


The Start of Something Beautiful

by Recovery_Zero



Series: The Black Twins [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Marauders being Marauders, Slow Burn, Walburga Black's A+ Parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-09-18 21:16:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 63,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20319628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Recovery_Zero/pseuds/Recovery_Zero
Summary: When Walburga Black gave birth to twins, she wasn't expecting them to turn out how they did. Sirius and Amaris Black are more than a handful, and when they get sorted into Gryffindor with the other Marauders the only thing they can do right is cause chaos. They're a disgrace to the Black name, and they're quick to make it clear they're nothing like the rest of their family.  James, Peter, Remus, and even Lily might be in over their heads trying to get a handle on the pair.





	1. First Year - The Fun Begins

**Author's Note:**

> Well, hello there! This story is going to be laid out by year. Each chapter will contain snippets of life at Hogwarts for the Marauders. I'm going to try to keep it as one year per chapter, so chapters will be somewhat long, if you'd rather have shorter chapters let me know, but I felt it flowed better as longer chapters. This has been extremely fun to write, and I hope you enjoy reading it~

Two almost identical children stood before their mother on platform 9 ¾. The easiest way you could truly tell the pair apart was the difference in their gender. The girl’s hair was a little longer than her brother’s and she was a tad shorter and a little more frail. Their faces sported the exact same features though with only slight differences. Their cold grey eyes stared up at their mother who glanced down at them haughtily. Walburga Black didn’t want to admit it, but she was concerned about how her twins would make the family appear. She knew her children didn't fit the mold of the Black name, and she hoped that maybe Hogwarts would be able to sort the two of them out. “Now, you two are going to behave yourselves and not disgrace the family name, do you understand me?” 

The two eleven-year-old twins nodded mutely at their mother. “Good. Now I’d suggest you go find your cousin Narcissa and stick close to her.” Walburga urged her children toward the Hogwarts express and as soon as they stepped on, she spun on her heel and disappeared off the platform. 

The pair watched her leave through the open door, and as soon as she was out of sight, Amaris turned toward her brother. “Do we really have to go find Cissy?” she asked, glancing up at her brother. 

“Of course not,” Sirius reassured his twin. “Come on, let’s go find somewhere to sit.” The pair wandered through the train, peering into already full cabins. Soon, they found one that had three students sitting inside that looked to be their age. Grabbing his sister’s hand, Sirius pulled the door open. “Sorry to interrupt, but everywhere else was full. Do you mind if we join you?” he asked, eyeing the kid with glasses warily. 

“That’s fine,” the black haired boy responded. Sirius grinned and flopped down onto the seat beside him. He hadn’t left enough room for Amaris to sit, and she awkwardly glanced at the pair sitting on the bench opposite Sirius. There was a space open beside the boy with sandy brown hair and scars donning his features. Amaris glanced at him with wide eyes, not sure what to do. He gave her a small smile and motioned for her to sit beside him. Warily, Amaris took the offered seat and gave a small glare to her brother for his betrayal. 

Sirius just grinned back at her before turning to the boy he sat beside. “I guess we should introduce ourselves. I’m Sirius, and that’s my sister Amaris.” Amaris gave a small wave to everyone as they glanced between her and her brother. "If you couldn't tell, we're new here."

“So are we,” the boy sitting beside Sirius responded. At that, everyone fell into easy conversation. The black haired boy introduced himself as James Potter, and the two sitting beside Amaris were Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin. James spoke a little bit of his family before questioning Sirius and Amaris about theirs. "I didn't catch your last name," he commented, staring at them curiously. 

Amaris began fiddling with her hands, not knowing exactly what to say. She pursed her lips as she locked eyes with Sirius. "Didn't mention it," Sirius replied, giving James an even stare.

James gave the twins an odd look. "Well, what is it? Can't be that bad now, can it?"

"Black," Amaris muttered, staring at the floor.

In the compartment, James was the only one to look surprised. He glanced back and forth between Amaris and Sirius a few times before muttering, "I've heard my father talking about your family before. Said some really nasty things about you lot."

Sirius merely shrugged. "They were probably all true. Our family is generations worth of Slytherins."

The compartment was silent for a second before James spoke up again. "That's a shame. The two of you seemed rather normal. Is that where you're hoping to wind up? Slytherin?"

Both twins looked as though they wanted to vomit. Amaris shouted, "Anything but!" as Sirius said, "Merlin, no."

Satisfied with their answers, James ginned at them once again. "Maybe there's a chance we could wind up in the same house, then." He pointed at himself with a wide grin spreading across his features. "I'm hoping to get put in Gryffindor just like my dad was." Everyone broke into laughter at James theatrics and they all slipped back into the light conversation about what houses they wanted to be placed in.

~

Amaris stood beside her brother, holding his hand nervously as she stared at the stool another first year was sitting on in front of their group. The large patchwork hat that rested on the girl’s head moved a little bit before one of the seams split open. “Hufflepuff!” It bellowed, and the Great Hall exploded with applause. Professor McGonagall removed the hat from her head and glanced back at the list she held in her hands. 

“Black, Amaris,” McGonagall stated. Sirius gave her hand a light squeeze before releasing his sister. Taking a deep breath, Amaris stepped forward and sat on the stool. As the hat was placed on her head, she glanced over toward the Slytherin table where her cousin sat, watching expectantly. 

_ Oh my, _ a voiced echoed in her head.  _ I thought this would be rather simple. Usually a Black is sent to Slytherin, but I see you are very different from the rest. You have opposing views of those of your family, don't you? Very well. _ The voice stilled and shouted for the entire room to hear, “Gryffindor!” Amaris froze when she saw Narcissa’s expression sour. She quickly looked away and as the hat was removed from her head, Amaris glanced at Sirius worriedly. He grinned at his sister, and Amaris hopped off the stool, heading toward the rowdy table that was clapping for her. 

Taking a seat near the end of the table, Amaris watched as her brother’s name was called next. She chewed her lip nervously as the sorting hat seemed to have the same conflict with Sirius. Amaris let out a breath of relief when the hat shouted, “Gryffindor!” With a wide grin, Sirius moved to join his twin. He gave her a tight hug as he sat down beside her. This put Amaris as ease, and they watched as the students were dispersed throughout the houses. 

“Lupin, Remus.” Both Amaris and Sirius watched carefully as the hat was still on their new friend’s head for a moment before sending Remus over to join them at the Gryffindor table. Both twins cheered loudly and grinned at the brunette when he sat down beside Sirius. More names were called, and Amaris didn’t really pay that much attention until she heard Peter being called forward. He warily stepped up to the stool and sat down. The hat was placed on his head, and remained silent. Amaris glanced to Remus and Sirius, concerned. Finally, after what seemed like ages, the sorting hat called out Gryffindor and Peter all but leapt off the stool and scurried over to sit across from Amaris. 

James was next to be sorted. He strode up to the stool with confidence and sat down. Amaris laughed when she watched the hat barely touch his head before sending James to join his friends at the table. Sirius gave him a high five as James sat across from them. The rest of the sorting ceremony passed quickly, and the hall quieted down as Dumbledore stood before all of them. He welcomed everyone back for another year and welcomed the first years to Hogwarts. 

~

Amaris left her brother and new friends behind and followed the female prefect up to what would be her room for the next seven years of her life. Stepping through the door, Amaris took in the small room with two beds and turned to see the prefect already walking out of the room leaving her standing there with a small redheaded girl. Amaris immediately felt bad that she didn’t remember the girl’s name and took a small step forward. She held out her hand awkwardly and introduced herself. “I’m Amaris, and I guess we’re going to be roommates while were here, huh?”

The redhead chuckled and took Amaris’ hand. “I’m Lily, and yeah, looks like it. I’m sure we’re going to get along just fine though.” Lily beamed at Amaris, and Amaris couldn’t help but smile back. 

“It’s nice to meet you Lily. We should really start unpacking and get ready for tomorrow.”

The girls stayed up late, chatting about their lives before Hogwarts and everything they were excited for. Amaris easily left out most things that involved any family member aside from Sirius. Lily didn't seem to know what weight the name Black seemed to hold, and Amaris soon learned it was because both of Lily's parents were muggles. Amaris swore she could hear her mother's voice in the back of her head screaming about how Lily was impure and had no right to be there. Shaking her head to rid it of the screech of her mother, Amaris just smiled at the girl and mentioned they should get some sleep.

Happy Lily agreed with her easily, Amaris tucked herself into her bed and stared out the window, wondering just what this year was going to bring. 

~

Amaris and Lily made their way into the dungeons and stopped outside the door that led to their potions class. “Are they really making us have class in the dungeons?” Lily asked as she pushed the heavy door open. 

Amaris chuckled, following her through the door. “At this point, I’m hardly surprised by any of this.” The pair glanced around the room, noticing they had potions with the Slytherins. Amaris made a disgusted noise and searched the room for a table with two open seats. When she found none, she gave a concerned look to Lily. Her friend simply shrugged at her and made her way to sit beside a greasy looking Slytherin boy. Now alone, Amaris glanced around the room looking for her brother. Finding him sitting beside Potter, her heart dropped. She sighed, making her way to the empty seat closest to him. 

Placing her textbook on the desk behind her brother, Amaris glanced to the boy that was sitting in the chair beside her. She was relieved to see it was Remus. Amaris gave him a bright smile and all but fell into the seat beside him. Remus took in her exhausted appearance and quirked a single brow at her. "Long night?" he asked quietly. 

Amaris shrugged. "You could say that." Amaris leaned forward in her seat and swatted at the back of Sirius' head. Sirius spun in his seat, ready to give whoever it was an earful, but when he realized it was his sister, he just gave her a dull look. Amaris rolled her eyes at him and motioned with her head to where Lily sat with her Slytherin friend. Sirius followed her lead and looked to Amaris' roommate. He made a disgusted face seeing her laughing at something the boy had said. Amaris waved her hand in front of Sirius' face to catch his attention once again. Shielding her mouth from Remus, she mouthed the word,  _ mudblood. _

Sirius quickly cuffed Amaris in the side of the head. "Don't use that word," he scolded her. Amaris had heard their mother enough to know exactly what it meant.

Amaris gently rubbed the side of her head. "You know I didn't mean it in a bad way. It's just easier to say." Shaking his head, Sirius turned his back to his sister and began whispering to James. Amaris noticed Remus watching the two of them curiously. 

"Are you two always like that?" He eyes the pair carefully, not knowing exactly what he was getting into by considering them his friends. 

Smirking back at him, Amaris nodded. "Never a dull moment with us around. I can promise you that."

~

It was now Monday, and the twins successfully managed to make it through their first week of school without incident. Amaris and Sirius sat in their usual seats beside each other at the table during lunch. Lily sat on Amaris’ right side, and James, Peter, and Remus sat across from them. Their laughing was cut short as the large window above them opened and a large group of owls soared into the room. Sirius nudged his sister and pointed upward at a familiar black owl that carried a large, red envelope. “What are the odds that howler is for us?” he asked, smirking at his sister. 

Before she could answer, the owl swooped down and dropped the envelope in front of Sirius. “I’d say the odds are pretty good,” Amaris said, laughing. James and the others watched in awe as the twins were  _ actually laughing _ about receiving a howler in the mail. 

“Have you two lost your minds?” James asked, motioning toward the envelope that was waiting to be opened.

Sirius and Amaris glanced at each other before responding. “It can’t be half as bad as what we hear at home,” Sirius explained. 

“To be honest, I’m surprised it took this long to get here,” Amaris added. Sirius picked up the envelope, glancing at his sister out of the corner of his eye. “Wait, let me guess at what it says before you open it.” Amaris cleared her throat and tried her best to imitate her mother’s voice. “Sirius Black! And you! Amaris Black! You two are the worst children I could have ever asked for!” 

Sirius smacked his sister lightly on the shoulder. “Stop it. You had me worried I’d actually opened it.” Rolling her eyes, Amaris motioned for him to just get it over with, and Sirius opened the letter. 

The howler flew out of his hands and floated in the air before them. Their mother’s voice drifted through the Great Hall. “Sirius Black!” The letter faced Amaris. “And I know you’re there too Amaris! Both of you listen, and listen good! You two have been the biggest disgrace the Black family has ever seen! There was only one thing you two had to do this year, and you already messed it up. Absolutely disgraceful! I’d suggest the two of you figure out how to fix yourselves before the year's end. I will not have two children like you bringing such disgrace upon this family!” The howler paused, but it still floated in the air before Sirius.

“Do you think it’s done yet?” he asked his sister. 

She shook her head, not taking her eyes off the howler. “Nah, you know mother. Always one for being dramatic. She loves her long, drawn out pauses.”

Sure enough, the howler picked back up once again. “The two of you will be staying there over the holidays in hopes that you can figure yourselves out. If you can’t, I will have to remind you what it means to be a Black when the summer begins.” With that, the letter exploded in front of the twins, and they glanced at each other. 

Amaris was the first to begin laughing, and Sirius soon followed after her. “She’s really slipping,” Amaris commented. “She only called us a disgrace, what, two times?”

“I believe it was three,” Sirius said in between fits of laughter. 

“She could’ve done so much better, but I guess she had to keep it family friendly as the entirety of Hogwarts just heard her screaming at us.” Amaris glanced around at the Great Hall and shook her head at the amount of people that were still staring at the twins. Turning back around, she noticed looks the two were receiving from their friends. 

“You two just got a howler, and  _ you’re laughing? _ ” Remus asked, incredulously. He’d known the twins were slightly off from the beginning, but now he was seeing just how crazy they truly were. 

The twins gave Remus a deadpan look and glanced back at each other. “What was it she called you a week before leaving the house?” Sirius asked.

Amaris paused, trying to think back to exactly what Sirius was talking about. “Oh, I remember,” she began. “A sneaky, lying, little wretch. But not in the good way like I’m supposed to be. I quit being mummy’s perfect little angel at what, five years old?” Someone cleared their throat behind the twins, and they bother turned around, taking in Narcissa’s looming form. 

She smirked down at the pair, glancing only once at the shreds of the howler. “I see your mother received my letter.”

The twins sharing a knowing glance before smirking maliciously. “Should’ve known it was you Cissy,” Amaris began.

“Doing the only two things you’re good at. Spying,” Sirius stated easily. 

“And being a snitch. I assume you’ll be writing to our dear mother again to let her know how well her letter went over with us?” Amaris asked, a sadistic pleasure obvious in her tone. 

Narcissa’s smirk faded, and a glare took up residence on her face. “I should’ve expected nothing less from the two of you. You never knew how to properly act. I’m sure you’ll be hearing again from your mother soon.” Before Narcissa turned to leave, Amaris held up a single finger to her. 

“Before you go Cissy, could you be sure to include that Mother could do so much better next time? I didn’t feel insulted enough this go-round.” Amaris was cackling at her cousin’s appalled look. 

With disgust, she leaned closer to Amaris. “I’ll be sure to let her know just how you two feel.” Narcissa spun on her heel and stormed off toward the Slytherin table. 

The twins were once again laughing, and Sirius gave his sister and odd look. Quirking a brow Amaris challenged her brother to say what was on his mind. “Come now, Amaris, did you really have to go that far? Mother’s going to beat you when you get home for the summer.”

Shrugging, Amaris took a bite of her long-forgotten sandwich. When she swallowed, she glanced back over at her brother. “You act like it’ll be the first time. And anyways, that's such a long way off Sirius. I’m sure I’m going to do much worse before going home, and don't count yourself out of this yet either. You'll be there right along with me before year's end.” Shaking his head, Sirius laughed at his sister knowing it was true. 

“How can you two be joking about this?” Lily’s voice startled the five of the Gryffindor students that sat around her. “You’re talking about your mother screaming at you and—and  _ beating you _ . And then you laugh? What’s wrong with you two?”

The pair just looked at Lily for a moment. Her eyes were wide with every emotion possible in that moment. The most prominent were fear, disbelief, and disgust. Amaris shrugged at her half-heartedly. “When you grow up like we did, you just become used to it. It sort of became a game to us.”

Sirius placed a hand on his sister’s shoulder. He understood exactly how she was feeling. “And to be honest, we only have to deal with it for six more summers. As soon as we turn eighteen, the two of us are leaving. Looking at it that way, it truly is a joke to us now.”

The table fell into an awkward silence. Trying to lighten the mood, Amaris joked, "Who wants to bet on how long it'll take to get another howler?" 

~

Three days later, a red envelope landed on Amaris' plate. She pointed at James and Sirius, grinning victoriously. "I told you it'd only take three days!" she shouted. Lily, Remus, and Peter glanced down at their food, not wanting any part of what was about to happen. "I do believe you both owe me an essay of my choice." Amaris paused, rethinking her words. "Actually, Sirius, I'll think of something you can do for me later. I don't trust your intelligence to get me a good grade." Before Sirius could hit his sister in the head, she opened the letter. 

Just like last time, the howler was in her face, and her mother's familiar shriek filled her ears. "Amaris Anser Black! You disrespectful little girl. I promise, if you step a single toe out of line this year, we will be having a long chat about your behavior come summer. Maybe that will remind you how to properly act!" There was another pause. Amaris simply grabbed her mug of pumpkin juice and took a sip, waiting for her mother to continue on. "You would be wise to heed my words as well Sirius. I know you two are the exact same. You both should hope I don't receive any more letters about your out of line behavior!" With that, the letter exploded, letting shreds of paper rain down on Amaris' lunch. 

Amaris turned to Sirius. "One more toe out of line, she says," Amaris muttered, placing her mug back on the table. "Do you think our detention later counts as we got that before she threatened us?" All of their friends laughed as they knew there was no way of reigning the twins in at all.

~

It was finally Christmas Eve, and Amaris woke before anyone else that had stayed in Gryffindor tower for the holidays. She stretched in her bed, letting out a low groan when she felt her joints popping. Rolling over, she glanced outside to see the lawn covered in a thick blanket out snow. Grinning, she shot out of bed and rushed over to the window. Letting out an excited noise, she turned to see Lily watching her curiously. “Lily!” she called excitedly. “It snowed!”

Lily was somewhat confused by her friend’s excitement. Sure, the redhead loved the snow, but it was nothing to squeal at like Amaris was. “Yes, and?”

Amaris glanced at the floor for a moment, chewing her lip idly. “I’ve never gotten to play in the snow before. Mother always said it was childish and ridiculous.”

Lily looked shocked. She slowly got out of her bed and moved to hug Amaris. “Don’t worry, I’m sure we can find time to go outside today.”

Grinning once again, Amaris let out another excited sound. “I’m going to go get Sirius!” Before Lily could say another word, Amaris was dressed and dashed out of the room. Shaking her head, Lily threw on her clothes for the day and made her way down to the common room. 

Amaris was nowhere to be seen though as she was already sneaking her way up the stairs to the boy’s dormitory. She’d been to their room plenty of times already, and she easily found their door. She placed her ear against the wood for a moment and when she only heard their light snores, Amaris was confident she wouldn’t walk in on something she didn’t want to see. Silently opening the door, Amaris peered in and sure enough, the four boys were sleeping peacefully still. 

Closing the door behind her, Amaris crept over to her brother’s bed and pounced on him. “Sirius!” she whisper-shouted. Sirius was awake in moments, and he shot up in bed. Not expecting his sister to be perched on his bed, Sirius slammed his forehead into hers and they both let out a pained groan. They both rubbed their forehead in pain and ignored the shocked stares of the three other Gryffindors in the room. Sirius glared at his twin. 

“Amaris,” he said lowly, and his sister beamed at him mischievously. “I’m going to throttle you.” 

Laughing, Amaris jumped off her brother’s bed with a call of “Not if you can’t catch me first!” Amaris dashed through the door and thundered down the stairs. She heard her brother making his way through the door clumsily and as her feet hit the floor of the common room, Sirius was making his way down the stairs. Amaris quickly slid behind the couch that Lily was sitting on, looking absolutely bewildered. Moments later, Sirius burst into the common room. His eyes scanned the room for any trace of his sister. 

Annoyed, he met Lily’s still wild stare. “Have you seen Amaris?” 

Confused, but slowly putting everything together, Lily nodded. “She just went through the portrait. She was in a bit of a hurry it seemed. Guess she went off to breakfast already.” Letting out an annoyed sigh, Sirius spun on his heel and stormed back up the stairs to his room. As soon as he was gone, Lily leaned over the back of the couch and saw Amaris curled against the back of it. “He’s going to kill you,” she muttered, shaking her head before going back to sitting normally on the couch. 

A few minutes later, all of the boys filed into the common room. Once again, Sirius looked around the room. His eyes settling on Lily again, he muttered, “Gonna go to breakfast. You coming?” 

Lily shook her head at him. “I’ll be there in a minute.” Nodding, Sirius led the rest of the males out of the common room muttering about what he was going to do when he got his hands on his sister. When the portrait closed behind them, Amaris popped out of her hiding place. “You’re in so much trouble Amaris,” Lily said laughing. 

Shaking her head, Amaris grinned. “He’s not going to do anything. Sirius always has a big talk but he’s harmless.” Laughing, the pair made their way out of the common room and walked to breakfast together. As soon as they walked into the Great Hall, Sirius was glaring daggers at them. He thought for sure he’d find his sister already waiting for him, but here she was, strolling lazily into the room. As Amaris neared them, she snagged an apple from the table and sat down across from her brother. “Morning,” she greeted him, grinning. 

Sirius leaned in toward his sister. “Amaris, I promise you, as soon as we leave this hall, I’m going to murder you.”

Amaris chuckled before looking at him with a small pout. “You wouldn’t Sirius. It’s Christmas Eve. And besides, I only wanted to go play in the snow.”

“You woke me up to go play in the snow?”

Amaris shrugged. “You were also going to miss breakfast if you all slept any longer. Besides, Lily already promised me we’d go outside later. I just wanted you to come with since we’ve never been allowed to before.” She crossed her arms, grinning at Sirius. “I want to finally be able to hit you with a snowball without getting grounded.”

Sirius rolled his eyes at her before stating, “Fine, but two on one isn’t fair.” He glanced at the rest of the males watching the pair intently. “Anyone care to even the teams?” James immediately agreed, and so did Peter. Remus on the other hand mentioned something about needing to study.

Exasperated, Amaris fixed Remus with a pleading stare. “Study? Remus, it’s the holidays. I’m sure your studying can wait a few days. And besides, it’s now three on two. Please, Remus?” Amaris begged, giving him her best puppy dog stare as she leaned against his shoulder. 

With a sigh, Remus quickly gave in. “Fine, but you’re helping me study later.”

Amaris beamed happily at him. “You act like I wasn’t going to anyway. I always help you study Remus.” He rolled his eyes at her, and they all quietly finished their breakfast. Amaris was silently plotting against James and Sirius the entire time and when everyone was done eating, Amaris shot up from the table and grabbed Remus and Lily’s hands. She all but dragged them from the Great Hall with their remaining friends hot on her heels. 

As soon as they burst into the courtyard, Amaris dashed forward, scooping up a handful of snow and wadding it together as tightly as she could. Sirius, James, and Peter took off across the snowy lawn, creating snowballs as they ducked behind cover. Amaris, Remus, and Lily did the same. From where she crouched behind the half wall, Amaris counted down from three and signaled her friends to follow her lead. Amaris popped up from where she hid and pelted Sirius in the chest with her snowball. Both Sirius and James had aimed for her, and Amaris was quickly pelted with their ammunition. 

She dropped to the ground behind the wall, shaking the snow out of her hair laughing. Amaris glanced over to where Remus was doing the same. Apparently, Peter had lobbed his snow at Amaris and completely missed, hitting Remus in the face. “This means war!” Amaris called, popping back up from her hiding spot and again, she was pelted with snowballs. Completely covered in snow, she looked between Lily and Remus. “We don’t stand a chance against those two. I’m going to create a diversion. While they focus on me, you two let loose.” 

Lily quickly agreed to the plan, and Remus looked a little concerned at her willingness to sacrifice herself. The three of them quickly made as many snowballs as they could, and Amaris grabbed two, leaving the rest of the pile for Remus and Lily to use. “Ready?” The pair nodded at Amaris, and she smirked. “Don’t you forget about me. I’m sacrificing myself for the greater good!” With that, Amaris bolted out from behind her cover into the open yard. Within seconds, she was bombarded with seemingly endless fire. She managed to throw one of her snowballs and hit Sirius in the face with it. The other she had nailed James in the chest. 

A well-aimed throw from Sirius hit Amaris directly in the face. Dramatically, Amaris dropped to her knees, clutching her chest. As she fell to lay in the snow, she spared a glance over at Lily and Remus. “Go on without me!” she called to her friends.

Lily, now playing along with Amaris called out her name sorrowfully. “I won’t let you die!” With that, Lily leapt over the small wall and Sirius and James followed suit. Lily hit Sirius in the chest, and James in the side of the head. Both dropped to the ground, and Lily rushed over to Amaris side as she lay hopelessly in the snow. Lily grabbed her friend’s hand, clutching it to her chest. “Amaris, don’t go. Stay with me!”

Amaris smiled weakly at Lily. “You did good kid, you did good.” With that, Amaris stilled in the snow, and Lily let out another cry of her name. From where Sirius lay in the snow, he formed one last snowball and threw it at Lily. It hit her in the back, and Lily fell over on top of Amaris. Shaking his head, Remus walked out from behind the wall and threw one last snowball at Sirius, hitting him in the face. Sirius fell back against the snow. 

Remus glanced about the battlefield, taking in the four bodies strewn across the snow. “All my friends are dead,” he muttered quietly. A small crunch of snow caught his attention, and Remus dodged a snowball thrown his way from where Peter still hid behind his cover. Remus quickly formed a single snowball and waited for Peter to show himself again. As soon as he did. Remus let loose and hit Peter in the shoulder with his snowball. Peter let out a pained sound and dropped to the ground, clutching his shoulder. 

“Just what is going on here?” a shrill voice called into the courtyard. Remus glanced up to see Professor McGonagall standing in the doorway. All of the students laying in the snow popped up and stared happily at her. 

“Snowball fight, Professor!” Amaris cheered. 

McGonagall shook her head at her students. “All of you get inside before you catch a cold.” Grumbling, everyone began to haul themselves off the ground and followed the professor inside. 

Once they were inside, Amaris sidled up next to her brother grinning. “I do believe we won the war dear brother.”

Sirius laughed at her. “If I recall, you were the first to die.”

“Nonsense,” Lily called from where she walked beside Amaris. “She gave her life valiantly to make sure Remus and I could take you out. Which we did.”

Laughing, they all stumbled through the portrait hole and disappeared into their rooms to change out of their wet clothes. Amaris and Lily were the first back down into the common room. They flopped down onto the couches in front of the fire and sighed pleasant at the feeling of the heat warming their chilled forms. Soon after, the boys trailed into the room, and James and Peter sat on the couch with Lily. Sirius and Remus were left trying to sit on the couch Amaris was still sprawled across. Amaris moved her legs so Remus could sit, and she immediately placed them over his lap. 

Sirius stared down at his twin, silently telling her to move. When Amaris made no move to, Sirius shrugged and sat down on her stomach. He reclined against the couch making himself comfy. “Sirius,” Amaris groaned from beneath him. Sirius glanced down at his sister, cocking an eyebrow. “Get your fat butt off of me.”

Chuckling, Sirius shifted on top of his sister, letting more of his weight rest on her. “I don’t know sis, you’re pretty comfy.” With a groan, Amaris rolled beneath him, effectively dumping Sirius onto the floor. Everyone was now laughing at the twins and their usual antics. Amaris finally sat up, sitting beside Remus, and Sirius sat down right next to her, squishing her between the two males. 

“You two are something else,” Remus commented, glancing at the twins from where he was now crushed between Amaris and the arm of the couch. 

Smiling, Amaris glanced up at him. “But you love us,” she replied, her smile widening. 

Remus shook his head at her and gave Amaris a light shove. She fell over onto her brother and the three finally scooted apart. 

The six of them sat around the fire talking about everything and nothing in particular. With a sigh, Remus glanced outside and stood from the couch. Amaris gave him a questioning stare. “Everything okay?” she asked, concern obvious on her features. 

Remus nodded. “Just don’t feel well.” He busied himself with smoothing out the wrinkles in his ratty sweater. 

“Oh,” Amaris said, about to stand with him. “Want me to take you to see Madam Pomfrey?” Remus quickly shook his head. 

“I’ll be fine.” With that, Remus left the room, and everyone watched him go with concerned expressions. 

Lily was the first to speak. “He did look rather under the weather earlier now that I think about it.” Amaris chewed her lip, feeling guilty that she’d pressured him into going outside with them today. “Though it does seem like he gets sick rather often. Poor boy.”

The rest of the night passed by quietly. One by one, everyone began to disappear from the common room until it was just Sirius and Amaris left. Sirius glanced at his sister. “What’s wrong? You’ve been quiet all night since Remus left and that’s rather unlike you.”

Amaris shrugged, guilt still raging inside her. "Just feel bad is all," she muttered. 

Sirius wrapped a single arm around his sister. "You didn't do anything, Amaris," he tried to reassure her. "Lily was right earlier, Remus seems to always be ill." He gave Amaris one last squeeze before he stood off the couch. "I'm gonna head to bed. Promise me you'll get some sleep and won't stay up worrying all night?" Not saying anything, Amaris nodded, and her brother disappeared up the stairs. Amaris knew she wouldn't be sleeping any time soon, so she crept upstairs and grabbed the first textbook she could find and went back downstairs. 

Curling up on the couch, Amaris glanced at the book in her hands. Potions. Sighing, she flipped it open and began to read. At least she'd have a bit of a head start when the term resumed after the new year. After about an hour of studying, Amaris' mind quit registering what she was reading, and soon after, her eyelids grew heavy and finally slipped shut. 

~

Amaris swatted away whatever was prodding her in the forehead and rolled over, shoving her face into the couch cushion. "'Maris." A hand was on her shoulder, shaking her lightly. "'Maris, wake up. It's Christmas."

Groaning, Amaris shied away from her twin. "I don't care what bloody day it is," she muttered against the couch. "I'm tired." Curling in on herself, Amaris tried to go back to sleep, but Sirius was having none of it. He shoved his arms under his sister's body and heaved her off the couch before dumping her onto the floor.

Still, Amaris didn't budge. She felt someone nudging her with their foot. "I think you killed her," James commented, kneeling down to prod Amaris in the shoulder. 

When she didn't move, James poked her once again. "Do that one more time, and I'll rip your finger off, Potter."

"Nah, she's fine," Sirius said, moving to sit on the previously occupied couch. With a single huff, Amaris sat up into a sitting position and finally opened her eyes. She glanced blearily around the room. Everyone was staring at her with the exception of Remus who was still missing. Before Amaris could begin wallowing in guilt again, a package that was wrapped poorly in green paper was shoved in front of her face. Carefully, she pulled it from her brother's grasp and set it on the floor beside her. Pushing herself off the floor, Amaris went upstairs to grab the gifts she'd gotten her friends. She brought Remus' present with her just in case he showed up, and Amaris made her way back down the stairs, arms loaded with brightly wrapped gifts. Everyone sat in the common room in front of the fire as they exchanged Christmas presents with each other. Amaris was filled with joy, along with her friends, as they thanked each other pleasantly for their gifts.

Amaris was already wearing the red and gold bracelet her brother had gotten for her, knowing it would drive their mother insane. Her nose was also buried in the book James had gotten her about magical creatures, both light and dark. It was well after dinner, and the portrait opened, revealing Remus' tired form. From where everyone was sitting around the fire, they beckoned him to join them. Slowly, Remus made his way over, and sat down beside Amaris. Once their group was whole again, everything easily fell back into place. 

~

The six of them boarded the Hogwarts Express together. When they reached their cabin, Lily split off with them and went to go find Severus. In their entire year with the twins, none of them could recall a single time the two of them looked so down and unwilling to do something—not even on a single occasion they’d received detention. Trying to lighten the mood a little bit, James bumped his shoulder against Sirius’. “Come on, I’m sure everything will be fine, and I promise you I’ll write whenever I can.”

Sirius just smiled at him sadly. Where Amaris sat beside Remus, she was just as bad, if not worse off than he was. She knew just exactly what was waiting for her when she stepped into that house. A scarred hand resting on her thigh startled Amaris, and she glanced over at Remus who was staring back at her, worried. Not wanting to look weak or scared in front of him she didn’t say anything, but she leaned against him, appreciating his calming presence. 

All too soon, the train slowed as it neared the station. Amaris and Sirius just glanced at each other, neither one wanting to be the first to stand up. As their three friends stood around them, Sirius and Amaris finally rose from their seats. Amaris was quickly wrapped in a hug from Remus. She was surprised at first, but quickly hugged him back. “Try to not cause too much trouble while you’re home,” he whispered into her ear. “Stay safe,” he told her as he let Amaris go. 

The trio tried to smile as Amaris and Sirius grabbed each other’s hand and began to make their way off the train. They all exited, and as soon as Walburga spotted her children, she quickly made her way over to them and pulled them apart. Taking an arm of each twin in her hands, she applied way more force than was necessary and began to lead them off the platform. Before they were out of earshot, Peter, James, and Remus could hear the woman telling them, “Come along now, we have  _ so much to talk about _ when we get home.”


	2. Year Two - A Declaration of War

Amaris fell into her usual seat beside Remus on the express, and Sirius did the same beside James. As she slid the door shut with her foot, Amaris groaned and leaned against Remus dramatically. “Worst. Summer. Ever.”

Remus glanced over at Sirius who looked just as exhausted as his sister did. “It’s like she tried to cram an entire year’s worth of crap into three months,” he explained, shaking his head at the memory. “At least we don’t have to put up with it until next summer.”

“Maybe if you two tried to behave a little more this year—” Remus was cut off by the twins laughing. He knew it was a long shot, but if there was a chance they could avoid having another hellish three months maybe they would’ve taken the bait. But no. Remus sighed and looked toward James and Peter for some back up, but both just shrugged and shook their heads at him. Everyone knew the twins were a lost cause. They would do as they pleased and just deal with the concequences when the time came. 

Leaning back in his seat, Remus settled in to listen everyone tell the stories of their summer. Of course, Sirius and Amaris just glossed over theirs, and James told everyone stories about how his parents were urging him to join the quidditch team this year. Peter didn’t say much, though he usually never did. Remus, like the twins, glossed over his summer. He didn’t need to go into detail about how he spent most of it in pain and hating his life.

The door to their cabin slid open suddenly, and everyone glanced up to see Lily smiling and standing in the doorway. Amaris went to smile back, but couldn’t find it in her to do so when she noticed who was standing behind Lily. After the hell she’d just been through, Amaris wanted absolutely nothing to do with anyone who she even suspected to have similar views as her family. Sending a quick glance over at her brother, she could tell he was thinking the same thing. “I hope your summer wasn’t too terrible,” Lily’s voice had Amaris staring back at her for a moment before her gaze once again drifted to Severus. 

“It was fine,” Amaris stated blandly. “I would tell you all about it, but it seems we only have room for one more in here.” From where she was still leaning against Remus, she felt him give her a light shove. 

Severus’ eyes bored holes into Amaris. “You say that as though you believe I’d want to even join you.” Amaris cocked an eyebrow and finally sat up in her seat for the first time since they’d left the station. 

“Just go slither back into whatever hole you found your way out of, snake,” James had beat her to the punch. “I know how people like you operate, and it’s despicable."

Severus glanced over at James, looking bored. “People like me?”

James merely sneered back at him. He’d put up with Severus for a year and tried to play nice, somewhat, for Lily’s sake. This year though, he would be having none of it. Not after seeing just what his friends had to deal with over the summer. “I know what you’re truly like, _Snivellus._ You run around talking big about the Dark Arts and how much they interest you. You’re a worthless waste of space, and I don’t get why anyone would want to spend their time hanging around you.” Everyone around James fell into a stunned silence. “Why don’t you run along back to the rest of your Slytherin friends and discuss just how much anyone that isn’t a pureblood deserves less than you.”

Snape looked as though James’ words had no effect on him. Then again, Snape never looked anything other than bored of life or annoyed. Still though, Snape leaned forward slightly and pointed a single finger into the cabin. “I’d rather be how I am than be anything like you. Nothing but a bunch of pompous, arrogant Gryffindors. Think you can get away with whatever you want. Don’t play by the rules because you deem they’re below you. You three,” he pointed first at James, then moved toward Sirius and Amaris, “are the best examples of it. The Blacks never seem to be able to keep out of trouble just because they think it’s fun, and you, Potter, think you’re higher above anyone else.”

From the corner of her eye, Amaris saw James stand to make his way over to Snape. Before he could, she leaped out of her seat and placed a hand on the cabin door. She leaned forward, grinning madly at Snape. “Well, I’d say that’s enough of that, now isn’t it? Dear Snivellus, if you’d like to keep that nasty thing you call a hand,” Amaris made a disgusted face at where Snape’s finger was still pointing at James, “I’d suggest you move your arm out of the way of the door.” Amaris began to slide the door shut slowly. “And Lily, you’re free to stay if you’d like, but I don’t think anyone here is going to make you leave your current company to stay.” When Lily didn’t make a move to join them, Amaris gave her a fake smile. “See you both at the feast!” With that, Amaris slammed the door shut, narrowly missing Snape's retreating hand and turned back to her friends.

Sirius was now standing in front of James, trying to block him from opening the door and storming out after Snape. “James,” Sirius said, taking his friend by the shoulders. “Just sit down. It’s not worth it.” Sirius forced James back into his seat, and James continued to grumbled quietly to himself about Snape and Slytherins. 

Riled up from the altercation, Amaris still stood by the door and clapped her hands, grinning. “Well, wasn’t that a great way to kick off the year? If that was anything to go off of, I think I’m going to have way more fun than last year.”

“’Maris,” her brother sighed at her, “Sit down.” With a huff, Amaris flopped back down into her seat beside Remus.

She folded her arms across her chest and pouted at her brother. “Come on Sirius. This is a big year for us. We’re about to be thirteen. We’re not little kids anymore. Now we get to be the rambunctious teenagers we’ve always dreamed of being.”

Beside her, Amaris heard Lupin make an odd sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a cough. “That’s right. Sometimes I forget the two of you are older than the rest of us. You really don’t act it.”

“Excuse me,” Sirius called indignantly. “If I seem to recall correctly, I stopped James from going out there to fight Snape, and I got Amaris to listen to me for once. As the eldest here, I do believe I’m doing my job properly.”

Amaris scoffed. “Yeah, for once, Mister _I’m-five-minutes-older-than-you_.”

The three of them continued to bicker for the rest of the way to Hogwarts about just how mature the twins could act when they wanted to. When finally, the train began to slow, the three calmed themselves and exited their compartment. Amaris grinned and locked arms with her brother as they stepped off the train. When they heard the call for first years, both twins glanced over to see if they could spot the familiar face they almost didn’t want to see. When they didn’t see him, they shrugged at each other and went on their merry way toward the castle. Remus, James, and Peter followed along behind them, acting as though they were no longer associated with the insane twins. 

This year as they filed into the Great Hall, Amaris, Sirius, and Remus made their way to one side of the table while James and Peter were on the other. Amaris sat between the two males and across from Peter, while James was across from Sirius. Later on, when Lily found her way to them, still upset about what happened on the train, she sat next to Peter but didn’t glance at any of them. James glanced her way, before locking eyes with Amaris who just shrugged. James tilted his head, motioning for Amaris to talk to Lily, but with wide eyes, Amaris quickly shook her head. James then gave her a betrayed look, and Amaris held her hands up in a sign of hopelessness before turning to face the sorting ceremony that was about to begin. 

The first student was called forward and was promptly placed in Ravenclaw. The table cheered, but neither Amaris nor Sirius paid them any mind. Their eyes were locked on the boy that was about to be called next. Amaris nudged Sirius in the side. “Look, Mommy’s little boy is next.” Sirius shot his twin an annoyed look.

Sure enough, the next name called was him. “Black, Regulus.” Behind Amaris, Remus leaned forward. 

“You never told us you guys had a brother,” he hissed in her ear. 

Amaris looked shocked. “We have a brother?" she gasped. "Wait, I’m going to call this before it happens just so I can say: I told you so. Slytherin.” Amaris went silent, and sure enough, moments later, the sorting hat shouted out Slytherin. With a triumphant grin, Amaris turned to face her friends and gave a small, mock bow. “Now, without further ado, I told you so.” Her attention was pulled away from her exasperated friends by a small nudge in her side. Amaris noticed Sirius motioning for her to look toward the Slytherin table, and when she did, Amaris couldn’t help the angry snarl that built inside her at Narcissa’s gleeful smile directed at them. 

Turning away from her, Sirius grabbed his sister and turned her away from Narcissa before things could get ugly. “I can hear it now sis, _this is what a true Black should look like._ Should we expect another howler from mother soon?”

Amaris couldn’t see her mother sending them a howler for this. “Maybe not quite that, but at least a letter gloating about how her golden son made it into the right house. It might be better for him this way. I don’t know what he’d do if mother sent _him_ howler after howler telling him how much of a disappointment he is to her.”

With long, sullen sighs, the twins settled down finally and the rest of the feast passed by without incident. Everyone was dismissed, and their group made their way back to their respective dorms for the night. Amaris wasn’t expecting her night to be pleasant, but what she really didn’t expect was Lily exploding as soon as the door was shut. She threw her trunk in front of her bed violently and glanced over at Amaris. “Just who does he think he is?” Lily shouted. Amaris stared at the redhead from where she stood behind her bed. Hopefully if anything was going to be thrown in her direction, Amaris would be able to dive beneath the bed for cover. “Talking about Severus like he knows him. James hasn’t even taken the time to get to know him! If any of you did, you would realize he isn’t a bad person.”

Amaris rubbed her forehead wishing she could just disappear. This isn’t a conversation she wanted to be having this late at night, and especially not with this many heavy objects that could be thrown in her direction. “Now, Lily,” Amaris said easily, trying to calm her roommate down. Lily spun to face her, and Amaris took note of the stack of textbooks resting in the redhead’s hands. She had to chose her next words very carefully unless she wanted to be knocked out by a potions book. “Just take a second to calm down and look at things from an outsider’s perspective.” Amaris jumped at the sound of Lily’s books slamming against her bedside table.

“Just calm down? Calm down?! Like I’m just going to sit by and listen to him saying such things about one of my friends for no good reason!”

Amaris took in Lily’s rage for a moment longer before she gave in. Her hands pressed against her eyes before rubbing small circles against her cheekbones in frustration. Before saying anything, Amaris’ hands came together and her thumbs rested beneath her chin and her index fingers were against her lips. She paused like that for a moment, and it almost looked as though she was praying as she stared Lily down. Finally, her hands moved away from her face, and Amaris spoke. “This isn’t really a conversation I wanted to have with you with so little preparation, but I guess I have no choice now. Lily . . . I don’t know how to put this lightly.” 

“Then don’t!” she shouted at Amaris, still fuming. 

Amaris let out an annoyed sound. “Fine. Lily, you come from a muggle family. Do you know what that means?”

Lily looked confused for a moment as though Amaris had just asked her a trick question. “It means neither of my parents are able to use magic.”

“Close, but not quite. Lily, there are people in this world who don’t believe that anyone who doesn’t come from a family of purebloods should be able to use magic. The most well-known of those people are the Death Eaters. They support the Dark Lord’s vision of a perfect world. In that world, you wouldn’t be here Lily.”

Amaris felt bad for piling this onto her friend who looked absolutely shocked at her words. “What are you telling me this for, Amaris?” Lily’s voice sounded as though she was teetering on the edge of tears. 

Sitting on her bed, Amaris motioned for Lily to come sit beside her. After a moment of hesitation, she obliged. “This is why I didn’t tell you this before. I don’t want to scare you Lily, but I also want you to understand where the rest of us are coming from when we tell you to not trust Severus.” Lily looked as though she was about to say something, but Amaris shook her head, and Lily remained quiet. “I can’t say for sure if he’s one of them or not, but from experience, I know what those people are like, and Severus seems like the type. To be blunt, usually people in Slytherin are the ones who join their ranks.”

“How do you know all of this?” Lily asked, not meeting Amaris’ steely gaze. For a moment, she wondered if Amaris was one of them. How else could she know so much about those people?

“I need you to promise me you won’t tell a soul about any of this.” Lily quickly nodded, and Amaris fought with herself to continue on. “My family. They share the same ideals they do.” She didn’t want to come outright and say _my family is mainly made up of Death Eaters and supporters._ “That’s why my brother and I hate our family so much. We see the world differently than they do. So, until the day I can confirm without a doubt that Severus is nothing like the rest of his house, I won’t pretend to like him or the fact that you hang out with him. Just promise me you’ll be careful?” Lily promised. “Good. Now, I believe that’s enough world-shattering conversation for one night. We should probably finish unpacking and get some sleep.”

Lily stood from her roommate's bed and made her way back to her trunk. The pair of them didn't say another word as they finished what they had to do and tucked in for the night. 

~

The first three weeks of school had been completely normal. Amaris and Sirius had already been forced to clean cauldrons and polish the trophies on eight separate occasions. Exhausted from staying up until midnight the night before trying to catch up on missed assignments, the twins were rather subdued for once at lunch. That was until a letter fell down on top of Amaris' untouched food. Perking up slightly, she looked at her name scrawled in the all too familiar script. She nudged Sirius in the side and held the letter out for him to see. "This can't be good," Remus muttered. "You two almost never get mail, and you only look that_ happy_ when it's from your mother."

"Can't help it," Sirius said, urging his sister to open the letter.

"We just love getting such sweet notes from our dearest mother," Amaris added, sliding a finger into the envelope before tearing it open. She fished out the parchment and held it before her. Clearing her throat, she sat up a little taller and tried to act as regal as her mother did. "Amaris, and of course, Sirius because I can never write to one of you without including your other half," Amaris began to read only loud enough for their group to hear. "I've been recently informed that your brother Regulus has been properly placed into Slytherin. I'm hoping that having your younger brother at school showing you the way a Black should behave may lead you two on the right path. I seriously doubt it though as you two are a lost cause." Amaris paused, taking a moment to look hurt. 

Shaking her head, she continued on. "Now, on to more important matters. I would like the two of you to know that there are always people watching you. I find out about everything you do sooner or later, and I've been told you have already served multiple detentions and already begun wreaking havoc both in and outside of classes. Unless you wish to have a summer worse than what you just had, I'd suggest you straighten up sooner rather than later. Signed, Walburga Black." As the letter concluded, Amaris wadded it up in her hands and threw it toward her brother. "You do realize what this means, right?" she asked, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Sirius shared the same look. "More detention?" he suggested, smirking.

"More detention," Amaris quickly confirmed. 

Remus and James shook their heads at the twins. Peter was just gawking at them. Lily chose to remain completely separated from the entire conversation. She was still trying to get over the way her friends had treated Snape. "You two are just asking to be punished now," Remus said blandly.

The twins shared gleeful grins. "Come on Remus, if you lived in the hell we call a home, you would try to enjoy your freedom as much as you could as well," Sirius replied. 

"And," Amaris drawled, holding a single finger in the air as she leaned toward her brother. "It's just too much fun to anger dear Mummy when she can't do a thing about it for almost an entire year." Remus gave up on the pair yet again, and simply turned back to his lunch as the twins plotted their next big move that would surely land them in detention for at least a week. 

~

Amaris glanced out the window of her room. It was another full moon. Remus was gone again. She chewed her lip and tugged at her blankets. She’d begun putting all the pieces together last year, but she wasn’t exactly sure what was going on. Now, after having read about werewolves in the school library and the book James had gifted her last year, she was sure. Remus was a werewolf. Amaris’ hands turned to fists as she grasped helplessly at her blankets. 

She didn’t get an ounce of sleep that night as she stayed up worrying about Remus. 

After classes, Amaris trudged her way to the common room, absolutely exhausted. Remus hadn’t shown up for any classes that day as per usual, and she was mere seconds away from exploding with all of her bottled up emotions. “Sirius, have you seen Remus around? I was going to ask for his help with the potions assignment, and I can’t seem to find him anywhere,” Amaris noted, her eyes scanning the Gryffindor common room as though she expected him to come strolling into her view at any moment. 

Sirius shook his head sadly. “I haven’t. He still hasn’t returned from the hospital wing yet. You should know this as you sit next to him in almost every class.” Peter and James mumbled their agreement. 

Amaris nodded mechanically. “I didn’t know if maybe he was in the dorm or not. Sirius. Can I talk to you in private for a moment?” Her brother’s eyes widened in confusion for a moment as he stood from the couch and approached Amaris. She leaned close, eyeing the pair sitting on the couch that were pretending to not watch her intently. “Remus has been gone once a month, every month. Always around the same time,” she whispered into Sirius’ ear. “Y’know how Mother used to rant and rave about anything that isn’t a pureblood. . . Well, what if Remus is one of those things she dreads?”

Sirius pulled away from Amaris, his eyes searching her grey ones for any hint that she was joking. When he found none, Sirius grabbed a hold of Amaris’ arm and drug her from the common room. He quickly made his way up the stairs that led to his dorm room and shoved the door open. Making sure they were the only two in there, he released his grip on her. “Just what are you trying to say Amaris?” Sirius’ eyes were ablaze with fury, and Amaris backed away from him. “I thought you didn’t want to be like her, and yet here you are, making crazy assumptions about a person based on their parents.”

Amaris couldn’t believe what her brother was saying. She shook her head, causing her loose curls to fly about her face wildly. “I would never Sirius. I don’t know what you mean by that.”

“Just because Remus is a half-blood—"

Sirius was caught off guard as his sister cut him off. “That has nothing to do with this! I wouldn’t even care if he came from a muggle family. It doesn’t matter what bloodline you come from as no other witch or wizard I know disappears every month like he does.” Amaris paused, watching her brother’s features soften. “You have noticed, haven’t you?” When Sirius’ eyes narrowed at her, Amaris continued on. Running a hand idly through her hair, she glanced out of the large bay window. “Every time he’s gone Sirius . . . the moon is full.”

Warily, Sirius shifted his weight from foot to foot. Of course, he’d noticed, but he hadn’t wanted to make a big deal out of it. “What’s your point?”

“The moon is always full _every single time_ he’s gone. Don’t you remember Mother always going crazy and telling us to stay indoors on the night of a full moon. She said if we didn’t, a werewolf would come and get us.”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “And our mother is also a crazy old bat.”

Amaris nodded in agreement, not even bothering to deny the statement. “That she is, but I’ve been doing some research Sirius. I think—I think Remus is a werewolf.” Amaris shied away from her brother waiting for the accusations he was sure to sling her way.

She was surprised when Sirius did no such thing. “And if he is?” Sirius asked quietly. “Will that change anything?”

Quickly, Amaris shook her head, not wanting to think about what her life would be like without her friend. “No, definitely not.” She paused, her teeth tugging at her bottom lip. “Well, maybe some things _could change_.” 

Sirius glared at his sister in disgust. “I thought you were better than that, Amaris. Are you going to abandon him just because of something he can’t help?”

“No! You know I would never! Remus is my best friend!” she shouted at her brother. “I want to help him Sirius.”

Her brother went silent; whatever response he’d had immediately died on his tongue. “You know there’s nothing we can do Amaris.” His tone was even, sorrow lacing his voice. 

Not knowing what to do with herself, Amaris began to pace in front of her brother. “I told you, Sirius, I’ve been doing some research. Werewolves only go mad around humans.”

Sirius watched his twin with wide, confused eyes. Had she lost her mind? He’d noticed she hadn’t been herself lately, and the dark circles under her eyes led him to believe she wasn’t sleeping either. “Amaris, last time I checked, that’s exactly what we both are. _Human.”_

Amaris finally halted her pacing and spun to face her brother. Her usually calm, mischievous grey eyes were now wild. “What if there was a way we didn’t have to be?”

That was it. Sirius knew she’d lost her mind at that very moment. Stepping forward carefully, he slowly reached out to take Amaris by the hand and lead her back to the common room so Lily could take her to her room. “Now, Amaris,” he began, lightly weaving his fingers through hers. “You know that’s not possible.” 

With surprising strength, Amaris yanked her hand free from her brother’s hold. “It might be Sirius. I need to look into it more though.” She ran her hands through her long black hair. Her brother stood frozen, watching his sister intently. “We don’t properly learn about it until next year, but I was reading about Animagi. We could turn into animals Sirius. _We wouldn’t be human anymore._” 

Sirius couldn’t believe what she’d just told him. Was this really a possibility? “That would mean. . .”

“We might have a chance of being safe around him during the full moon. He wouldn’t have to go through this alone anymore.”

Sirius closed the distance between them and gathered Amaris into a tight hug. Joy quickly surged through him at the thought of being able to support their friend in his time of need. “Amaris, that’s great! We should tell him.”

Amaris shook her head violently. “Not yet. I told you I need to do more research about it still. This is only a theory. I don’t want to get his hopes up until we know for sure this could work.”

Pride rose in Sirius’ chest at the thought of what his sister was willing to do for their friend. “My bookworm of a little sister.” He ruffled his twin's hair lovingly. 

Amaris pouted in Sirius’ arms. “You’re only five minutes older than me Sirius,” she reminded him. 

“Whatever, still younger than me. So, when do we start looking more into this?”

Pulling back from her brother, Amaris looked at him thoroughly surprised. She hadn’t expected him to want to help her dig through books to find answers, yet here he was offering his help. “I was going to go back to the library tonight, actually.”

Sirius smiled at her, finally releasing her from his hug. “Great. I’ll come with you. Do you think we should bring Peter and James? It could go quicker if we had extra help.”

Amaris weighed the idea for a moment before nodding. “We should talk to them first though, see if they’ve even worked out what he is.” Before Amaris could continue, Sirius was striding out of the room. His twin was left standing in the center of the boy’s room, completely shocked. Moments later, the door opened again and Sirius returned, dragging both Peter and James by the wrist. Sirius shut the door and the pair glanced between the twins, curious as to what was going on. 

James was the first to say anything. “Amaris, Sirius mentioned something about needing to discuss Remus as he was _so nicely_ bringing us up here.” Amaris gave Sirius a pointed look. He shrugged back at his sister, giving her a sheepish look. “I’m going to assume that the two of you have reached the same conclusion that we have.” James gestured to Peter. 

Amaris tried to keep her face blank as she stared at James. “And what would that be?”

James sighed. “Come on Amaris. Remus is sick once a month, every month. Always leading up to a full moon, and he’s always gone the night of. Our dear friend is a werewolf. I’ve been meaning to talk to you guys about it, but I didn’t want to tip you off if you didn’t already know. I know how your family is about. . .his kind.”

The twins groaned in unison. “We’re more accepting than our family is,” Sirius muttered. “So much so, that Amaris here has almost made herself sick with worry and the fact that she’s trying to find a way to help him out.” Amaris stared at the ground bashfully, not liking the way the three males were staring at her. 

James gawked for a moment before pulling himself together. “Is there a way to help him? I thought there wasn’t a cure or anything.”

“There’s not,” Amaris muttered. “But there might still be a way to help, and Sirius and I are going to do more digging in the library to see if it could actually work.” James looked slightly apprehensive at her words. 

“What are you thinking?” Amaris rambled off everything she’d already told Sirius about how werewolves don’t pay much attention to animals, then when she mentioned the concept of Animagi, James and Peter’s eyes lit up with excitement. When she was finally done explaining everything, James was almost bouncing with excitement. “When do we start reading?”

Amaris beamed at him, glad everyone was on board with her idea. “Tonight.” James nodded, and the sudden sound of the door opening had everyone’s head snapping toward the entrance of the room. Rubbing his bleary eyes, Remus stood in the doorway, slightly shocked at seeing them all staring back at him. 

“Oh, uh, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” he said solemnly. 

Amaris was the first to recover, and she quickly bounded over to him, wrapping Remus in a hug. Surprised, Remus awkwardly hugged her back. “Glad to see you’re okay, Rem. You look dreadful,” she commented, pulling away from him enough to take in his pale face and darkened features. Remus' face also sported a few new cuts.

He gave her a humorless chuckle. “I feel dreadful.”

Letting him go with a sad smile, Amaris turned to everyone else in the room. “Alright, come on you three. Let’s let him get some rest. We’ve got plenty of studying to do.” Before Remus could question her about what he’d missed, she threw an easy, “I’ll fill you in later,” over her shoulder and they were all out of the door and on their way to the library. 

~

The twins sat at a table in the back of the library, far away from prying eyes and ears. Sirius groaned for what had to be the seventieth time as he shut his book. “I can’t find anything that says how you begin the process,” he muttered, rubbing his tired eyes. They’d spent the last two months holed up in the library almost every night searching for answers. James and Peter usually hung back with Remus most nights so he didn’t catch on to what they were trying to do. 

Amaris and Sirius always gave the same excuse that they had some form of detention to get to which everyone easily believed. If the pair wasn’t actually in detention, they were sat at the same table with their noses buried in a different book each night. In the time they’d spent in the library, they’d come to the conclusion that should they be able to transform, they would be safe from Remus in his wolf form. Now, all they needed to do was figure out how to become an Animagus. 

Amaris ignored her brother and continued reading. “This here says that the transformation can go horribly wrong if not done properly, and the witch or wizard may become permanently stuck in a half-human, half-animal state.” Amaris groaned, placing her head in her hands. “I might be beginning to think this is a bad idea,” she grumbled. 

“Come on Amaris. I’m sure we’ll be fine.” She glanced at Sirius, and the look he gave her convinced her that he truly believed what he said. “Does the book say anything else?”

Amaris held a finger up to him and continued to read on. “Due to this fact, the Ministry of Magic keeps a close watch on those who are attempting to master this form of magic, and there is an official registry for those who have.” Her eyes scanned over the next few words, and her mouth dropped open. Shaking her head, she reread the passage. Smacking her brother’s arm lightly in excitement, she read quietly, “Part of the process by which someone becomes an Animagus includes holding the leaf of a mandrake in their mouth for an entire month.”

As what she had just said sank in, both Sirius and Amaris glanced at each other in horror. Holding a leaf in their mouth for an entire month? How would they get away with that? How would they even be able to get their hands on the leaf? Amaris quickly leaned down and pulled a piece of parchment and her quill out of her bag and tossed them at her brother. “Write all of this down,” she demanded as she repeated the previous words. “We’ll figure out how to get everything later. Right now, let’s just be happy we even managed to find this!”

Glancing down at the paper, Amaris was delighted to find that Sirius had copied everything down exactly as she had said it. Dragging her eyes back to the book, Amaris read on, trying to find where it mentioned the process to make the potion. “Here!” she whispered excitedly. “The leaf must be held in their mouth for an entire month. It must be placed in the witch or wizard’s mouth at a full moon, and only removed at the next visible full moon.” Amaris paused, allowing Sirius to catch up as he quickly scribbled away on the parchment. “If the leaf is removed or swallowed, the process must be restarted. If the night happens to be cloudy when the leaf is supposed to be removed, the process must be repeated.”

Amaris’ hands began rubbing at her temples, stress already building up between them. “Alright, so, at the next _visible_ full moon, the wizard must spit the leaf into a phial within range of the moon’s pure rays. To the moonstruck phial, the wizard or witch must add: one of their own hairs, a silver teaspoon of dew that has not seen sunlight or been touched by human feet for seven days, and the chrysalis of a Death’s-head Hawk Moth.” Both Amaris and Sirius were quickly becoming overwhelmed. She was naming off things that were going to be rather hard for them to get their hands on. Amaris sighed. “I’m not done yet, either,” she muttered, glancing back down at the daunting text. “The mixture must then be put in a quiet, dark place and cannot be in any way disturbed.”

Amaris wanted to absolutely explode with frustration as she read the next few lines. This was going to take forever, and was going to be a pain in the ass to do in secret. “The next thing that must happen is for the wizard to wait for an electrical storm. During this waiting period, the wizard must, at sunrise and sundown, _without fail_, chant the incantation: Amato Animo Animato Animagus with the tip of their wand placed over the heart. When at last, there in a lightning storm, the wizard should move immediately to a large and secure place, recite the incantation one final time, and then drink the potion. Once this initial training is complete, the witch or wizard is able to transform at will.”

As soon as Sirius was done writing, Amaris yanked the paper away from him and pulled out a second piece of parchment from her bag. Holding her hand out for her quill and inkwell, Sirius handed them over, and Amaris quickly copied the notes down. When she was done, she folded the two pieces of parchment together and shoved them into her bag. Closing the book as quickly and quietly as she could, Amaris grabbed Sirius by the hand and put the book back on the shelf before taking off out of the library. Madam Pince's angry shouts followed them out of the door as they dashed down the hall.

Amaris and Sirius rushed back to the common room; the two copies of the potion process tucked away carefully in Amaris’ bag. As soon as they stepped through the portrait hole, they both scanned the room, hoping to find Peter and James alone. Sure enough, the pair was sitting by themselves by the fire. Immediately, the twins stormed over to them and grabbed each of them by the wrist, dragging them into a secluded corner of the room. Sirius shoved James into one of the chairs, and Amaris drug Peter onto the couch with her. Sirius grabbed the other chair that was beside James and pulled it across the floor so he could sit facing the three of them. “Bloody hell, what has gotten into you two?” James asked, eyeing the twins warily. 

“We figured it out,” Amaris stated gleefully. 

“You figured it out?” James asked rather loudly. Both Amaris and Sirius quickly shushed James who offered them an apologetic look. 

Nodding, Sirius scanned the room. “Where’s Remus?” he asked, not seeing the werewolf anywhere around. 

Peter shrugged, offering them a quick, “He said he needed to grab something from the room.”

Amaris nodded and bent down, quickly pulling out one of the parchments that had the instructions laid out on it. “Then we don’t have much time. When you get a chance, copy this down. Later on, we’ll discuss who is in charge of getting what ingredients and supplies. I say we start—”

“Oh, look who it is. Are you two still ignoring me?” Remus’ voice cut Amaris off. Everyone glanced up at him guiltily. He was looming behind Sirius, his arms folded tightly across his chest as his eyes scanned his friends. 

Meeting his wounded green eyes, Amaris tried to smooth things over. “Remus, we haven’t been ignoring you. We’ve been—”

“In detention," he cut her off sharply. "No, you haven’t. Even I know you two don’t have detention _that often._”

Sirius gave him a quick rebuttal. “Actually, to be perfectly honest, at least three quarters of the time we said we had detention we truly did.”

Remus looked like he at least believed that statement. It wasn’t too hard to see the truth of it. Every time he turned around it seemed Sirius and Amaris were picking fights or pranking someone. “And what about the other quarter of the time? I only ever see you during classes anymore, and when I see you at night you have your noses in a book.”

“We’ve been studying,” Amaris said coolly. 

Remus scoffed, his face spelling disbelief. “Studying? Sirius? I’ll believe that when I’m dead.”

“Actually, Remus we were,” Sirius said, not at all offended by Remus’ prod at him. “Amaris and I were studying potions.” It wasn’t a total lie as they’d finally found the potion recipe they needed. 

Remus narrowed his eyes at Sirius then glanced at Amaris. “Is that what you’ve been working on?” Before Amaris could say anything, Remus snatched the parchment out of her hand. The last thing he’d expected to see on it was a potion recipe. So, they truly had been studying, and Remus felt like a fool for doubting his friends. As he actually read what was on the page though, he was immediately suspicious. “Amaris, just what is this for?” She didn’t answer him, but instead demanded he give it back. When he didn’t, Amaris lunged forward at him, but Remus used his height against her and held it just out of Amaris’ reach and continued to read. “_It must be placed in the witch or wizard’s mouth at a full moon, and only removed at the next visible full moon_.” 

When Amaris realized he wasn’t going to stop, she went with the only idea she could think of. Amaris tackled Remus and wrestled the parchment from his grasp. She handed it off to Sirius and straddled the werewolf, her hands firmly placed over his mouth. “Nothing to see here, just Amaris being Amaris,” Sirius’ voice had Amaris glancing about the common room. Everyone was currently staring at her curiously as she continued to sit atop Remus.

Taking a calming breath, she glanced down at Remus. “Now, if I remove my hands will you be quiet enough for us to go upstairs?” Remus nodded. Warily, Amaris removed her hands from his mouth, but didn’t move to get off him for another moment. When she was satisfied he wasn’t going to say anything, Amaris stood and offered him a hand, helping Remus off the ground. She motioned for the boys to lead the way to their room, and they all trudged up the stairs. 

Once they were all shut away in their room, Remus turned to face Amaris. “Why do you have a potion recipe that is so concerned with the full moon?” he asked, his face pale. 

Amaris chewed her lip. She wasn’t sure how Remus was going to take the truth. “Does it matter?”

“Of course, it matters!” Remus shouted at her. He instantly felt bad for doing so as he watched Amaris recoil at his words. “I’m sorry. It’s a sore topic for me.”

Sirius stepped forward slightly. “We know, Remus.”

Remus felt as though the world was collapsing in around him. “What?”

“We know what you are Remus,” James added.

Remus shook his head. He didn’t want to believe he’d already been found out. He just wanted to have friends and a normal life, but he knew deep down he could never have that. The time he'd spent with his friends had been some of the greatest times of his life, and he was truly going to miss it. “I’m sorry. How long have you known?” This was surely why Amaris and Sirius had been avoiding him. It all made sense now. 

“We all had an idea during our first year,” Amaris responded. 

Remus’ eyes widened. Last year? That couldn't be. “And, you continued to be my friends this entire time?" All of his friends nodded at him. "But then why have you only recently started to act weird?” Remus asked, his eyes fixed on the twins. 

The pair shifted uneasily. Sirius glanced at Amaris, silently asking her if they should tell him. Amaris shrugged back. Remus had caught them red handed with the potion to become an Animagus, there wasn’t much of a chance of avoiding the topic now. “We’ve been looking for a way to try and help you,” Amaris said solemnly.

He couldn’t believe it. All this time, Remus had thought his friends were mad at him or something, and that they wanted nothing to do with him. In reality, they’d spent all of their free time searching for a way to try and help him? He’d never felt so happy in his life, but his happiness didn’t last long. “Amaris, there is no way to help me.”

“But there might be,” Sirius said quietly. “Now that the cat’s out of the bag, might as well ask him, ‘Maris.”

Warily, Amaris met Lupin’s gaze. “Remus, when you transform into a wolf, do you attack animals, or only feel that way toward humans?”

Remus crossed his arms over his chest as if to hold himself together. Amaris instantly felt bad for asking him. “Only humans.”

Grinning, James moved to grab the paper out of Amaris’ hands. “Great. That settles that. So, when do we start this?”

~

All five of them had sat in the boys room that night, doling out responsibilities for the potion. Amaris and Sirius were tasked with getting the mandrake, and Peter and James were in charge of getting their hands on the moth chrysalis. Now, it was a week later, and they were no closer to getting the ingredients than they had been at the start of the week. Amaris leaned back in her chair as Professor Slughorn droned on about the proper uses for a Swelling Solution. Suppressing a yawn, she spared a single glance back at Lily. The pair hadn't really spoken much since the start of the year. To be honest, Lily hadn't paid much mind to any of them.

From where he sat beside Lily, Snape gave Amaris a haughty smirk. Sneering back at him, Amaris sat back up in her chair normally and glared at her textbook. Remus took note of the change in her attitude and peered over at her worriedly. She simply shook her head and began angrily taking down the notes Slughorn was scrawling on the board. Finally, after what seemed like ages, the class was over, and Amaris was the first one out of the room. As she stood beside the door, waiting for her friends, Snape and Lily exited the room together. They passed her by without a single glance, but Snape made sure to bump his shoulder into Amaris. 

Still fuming, Amaris took a single step forward and pulled out her wand. Aiming it at Snape, she muttered the Relashio jinx. The books went tumbling out of Snape’s grasp and scattered across the floor. As Lily bent down to help him pick them up, Lily threw a dark glare toward Amaris. "What the hell, Amaris?" she spat. 

Crossing her arms across her chest, wand still in her grasp, Amaris just stared blankly back at Lily. "You should be asking that to your _good friend, _Snivellus. He shoulder checked me first."

Handing Snape's books back to him, Lily took a step closer to Amaris. "He bumped into you. You're always looking for a reason to pick on somebody, and usually it's Severus that just so happens to be in your line of fire." The rest of the Gryffindors finally made their way through the door just as Amaris took a step forward, jabbing a single, pale finger at Lily. Taking note of the crowd, Remus, James, and Sirius knew this could be anything but good. 

"So, because I fight back, I'm the bad guy, right? You've lost your marbles, Lily. You defend him knowing full well what he's really like toward the people you _used _to call your friends." At this point, Sirius jumped in, placing a hand on Amaris' shoulder and pulled her back from Lily. 

He leaned in close to her and whispered "'Maris, this isn't the time to be causing a scene. Not right outside a classroom." Deflating, Amaris let her brother pull her back toward Remus, James, and Peter. She tucked her wand back into its rightful place as Sirius led her away.

That was until Lily made her last remark. "Just because your family were all Slytherins and turned out crazy doesn't mean Severus will too. You act more like them than he does." At this, Sirius quickly released his hold on Amaris and together, the twins started forward, preparing to grab their wands. Behind them, there was a series of slams as both James and Remus dropped their books and rushed forward, grabbing both of the Blacks in a bear hug. 

Amaris fought hard against Remus' hold as she wanted to get her chance at Lily. She took what Amaris had told her earlier that year and thrown it back in her face. That hurt more than anything she could've done. The twins could do nothing but watch as Severus and Lily disappeared down the hallway. Before the pair was calm enough for Remus and James to release them, Professor Slughorn stepped out of his room and took notice of the dispersing crowd and the still raging twins being restrained. "Oh my, what is going on here?" When nobody said anything, Slughorn just assumed the worst. "All four of you, detention, and five points from Gryffindor for roughhousing in the hallway." Amaris slumped back against Remus, and James finally released Sirius. They let out a collective groan and acknowledged their Professor before he disappeared back into his room. 

Amaris righted herself, and Remus finally relinquished his hold on her before turning to gather his books from the floor. He was surprised to see Peter already had them for him and graciously accepted them from his friend. Books now tucked under his arm, Remus gave an annoyed glance at the trio. "I can't believe you roped me into getting detention . . . again," he sighed. 

Rolling her eyes, Amaris flashed him a wide smirk. "Careful now Remus, a few more of those, and we might have to start calling you a certified bad boy." They all laughed at Remus' appalled expression. The smile fell from Amaris' face, and she turned around, walking backward, so she could face her friends. "I hope you all realize that this means war."

James and Sirius cheered in agreement. "Nobody insults our family, but us," Sirius muttered. "And nobody gets to compare either of us to that lot."

"Next time I see Snape, I swear I'm going to light him on fire," Amaris said, grinning evilly. 

Remus fixed his friend with a serious stare. "Amaris, that's much too dangerous." Amaris pouted, but before she could form a rebuttal, Remus continued on. "Grease fires are extremely hard to put out." They all broke out into howling laughter and made their way to Charms. 


	3. Year Three - Silence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm not exactly happy with how this chapter turned out. I wound up losing it three times due to hard drive failures, so I just didn't have that much enjoyment re-writing it four times. Sorry if it isn't up to par~

The five Gryffindors sat in their usual compartment on the train. Everyone except Sirius stared curiously at the yellowing bruise that she sported on the right side of her face. Nobody had the nerve to ask her what happened as they all suspected it had something to do with Walburga. The girl was unusually quiet as she sat beside Remus. The four boys chatted idly, and both Remus and Sirius kept sending her glances every now and then to make sure she was still there. When there was a lull in the conversation, Amaris finally spoke up. “So, do we begin the plan as soon as possible since Sirius and I couldn’t get what we needed before class let out for the summer?”

There was a murmur of agreement throughout the cabin, and Amaris fell silent again. Worried for his friend, Remus placed a gentle hand on her thigh, and Amaris’ head snapped in his direction. “Are you okay?” he finally asked her.

She shrugged. “Just had a rough week, that’s all. I’ll be fine.” Not knowing exactly what to do, Remus wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into an awkward half-hug. Amaris easily relaxed into his hold and the pair remained like that for the rest of the trip to Hogwarts.

Once they reached the school, Remus finally relinquished his comforting hold on Amaris, and they all filed off the train and went to the feast. The five of them sat together, and just like the last few months of their second year, Lily sat as far away from them as she could. They made it through the beginning of the year feast and shuffled back to Gryffindor tower. Amaris bid her friends goodnight and stood in the common room for a moment, dreading having to go up to her room. She’d seen Lily make her way up already, and Amaris truly contemplated sleeping in the common room. If she didn’t have to unpack that’s exactly what she would’ve done.

Sighing, she dragged herself up the stairs and into her room. She didn’t even spare a glance at her roommate as she went to her trunk to begin unpacking. The pair didn’t acknowledge the other’s presence and the only sound in the room that could be heard was the odd slam of a trunk or books on shelves. What felt like ages later, Amaris was done unpacking, and she immediately crawled into her bed and pulled the covers over her head, completely shielding herself away from the world.

The days passed by in a blur until finally, they had their first Herbology lesson of the year. To their delight, when they walked in, the tables were lined with mandrakes. This was absolutely perfect. As Professor Sprout milled around the room, getting everything ready for class, Amaris quickly plucked one of the leaves from her plants and slid it into her robes. To her right, she could see Sirius and James doing the same. James nudged Peter in the side and motioned for him to swipe one of the leaves, and he did so. As the last few students finally trickled in through the door, Professor Sprout stood in front of her class and announced that today, they’d be reviewing and replanting the mandrakes.

Their last class after Herbology dragged by as the four Gryffindors couldn’t wait to get started on the daunting task of holding a leaf in their mouth for an entire month. When finally, McGonagall released them for the day, the four of them were the first ones out of the room, and Remus trailed along behind them, trying to keep up with their brisk pace. They reached the portrait in no time, and the four of them all but stumbled over one another trying to get through the passage first. Sirius was the first through, followed by James, then Amaris, with Peter and Remus bringing up the rear.

Sirius skidded to a halt in the boy’s dorm and was all but tackled as James and Amaris came barreling into the room. The three of them pulled their leaves from their robes and waited patiently for Peter and Remus to come strolling into the room. When the door was finally shut once again, the three of them cheered, holding their leaves above them. When they finally calmed down, Amaris turned to face Remus who was casually placing his on his trunk. “Rem, when’s the next full moon?”

He gave her a dull look. “Tonight, and I need to be off soon.”

Amaris’ eyes went wide. She figured they’d have a few days to figure out a plan, but apparently not. Amaris was usually good about knowing when the full moon would come around as she tried to be nicer to Remus leading up to it, but with the summer she’d lost track. “Fabulous, that was oddly convenient, but also horrible timing as we have no idea what we’re walking into,” she muttered.

Remus smirked at her as he made his way for the door. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. You’re all going to have a wonderful month ahead of you.” With that, Remus slipped out of the door, leaving the four of them staring blankly at the closed door.

Wide-eyed, Amaris turned to face the other three. “So, after tonight, how are we supposed to eat, drink, talk, or even exist normally for the next month?”

Sirius gave a half shrug before offering a weak, “Very carefully?”

They’d spent the afternoon planning and trying to figure out how to get by without talking. Peter’s snide remark had turned into the best idea they’d come up with. When he’d mentioned people would most likely rejoice in the fact the trio wouldn’t be speaking, a beautiful idea sprang to life. Now, as they walked back into the common room, Amaris gave Sirius a light shove. “Yeah, okay, Sirius,” she said a little louder than usual. Anyone that was milling about the common room gave them a quick glance before going back to what they were doing. “I doubt you could even manage to keep your loud mouth shut for an entire week.”

Sirius scoffed at his twin. “Low blow, ‘Maris. Jokes on you, I could easily stay quiet for two weeks. James is the one we’d need to worry about.”

James crossed his arms and stood in front of his three friends. “I’ll have you know I can out-do you by a week.”

“Three whole weeks without hearing you speak, Potter? I think I’m in heaven,” Amaris said, laughing. “Why not make it a month?”

Smirking, James took the bait. “A whole month of no talking? You’re on Black. First one talk owes the winner a Galleon.”

Sirius held his hands out quickly. “Don’t you two start a bet without me! Count me in.” The entirety of the common room was now watching the exchange. They all stared at each other wide-eyed, not believing what they were hearing. The possibility of having an entire month of peace in the common room was almost too much to believe.

Amaris grinned at the two of them when she noticed everyone watching them. Their plan had worked so far. She held her arm up as though marking the time on a watch that she didn’t own. “Fine, our month starts now.” She tapped her wrist with a single finger and mimed sealing her lips. The other two followed suit. Sirius motioned toward their room, and the three of them followed along behind him. The common room broke out into whispers and as they left, it exploded with students who were now betting on the outcome of their fake bet.

When the door to their dorm shut, the four of them burst out into laughter. “I can’t believe that worked,” Amaris forced out between fits of laughter.

“By tomorrow, I’m sure the whole school will hear about that,” Peter chimed.

Amaris pulled out her leaf and the other three did the same. “Good, that will only help our cause,” James said. “Well, here goes nothing.” James was the first to put his leaf in his mouth, and his face contorted in disgust at the taste. Sirius was next, and he made the same face James had. That didn’t make Amaris want to do this anymore than she already did, but nevertheless, she placed the leaf on her tongue. The bitter taste filled her mouth and she wanted to immediately gag. They all glanced toward Peter and finally, his leaf disappeared. The four of them just glanced around at each other’s disgusted looks and broke out into silent laughter. This was going to be a long month.

Before Amaris left the boys’ room for the night, she carefully placed a bag of Honeyduke’s chocolate on Remus’ pillow. During their Hogsmeade trip, the four Gryffindor’s had made a secret plan to make the full moons a little less awful for Remus. They would be taking turns leaving chocolates for him as they all knew how he loved them, and they definitely would not be telling Remus what they were doing. 

~

Amaris lounged in the common room with Peter, James, Remus, and Sirius. She swallowed thickly, careful to not dislodge the leaf still resting on her tongue. It hadn’t even been two full days and she was already hating her life. She let out a long, annoyed sigh through her nose.

Remus glanced down at where Amaris’ head rested again his thigh. “I told you this was a stupid idea,” he reprimanded her. “Nobody ever listens to me when I tell them anything is a stupid idea though.” Amaris just pouted up at him.

Peter had lost his leaf earlier that day in the Great Hall during lunch. So, it was only Sirius, James, and Amaris left with their leaves. To be perfectly honest, as they were attempting this, it had been the most peaceful two days the school had seen in a long time. None of them were able to sling insults at each other or anybody else, so the trio had to settle with simply making stupid faces at one another. Amaris and Sirius had managed to go both days without getting detention once. That was definitely a first.

Now that there wasn’t a single secret between the group, they’d grown immensely closer to each other. Life couldn’t get any better than it was, at least, until Amaris got bored of staring at the ceiling. She shifted slightly in Remus’ lap and reached up, poking him in the jaw. He glanced down at her, and Amaris was staring back up at him with a smirk. Rolling his eyes, Remus went back to his book. She prodded him again, this time in the cheek. He paid her no mind this time, and she did it again. With a sigh, Remus lowered his book until it rested on Amaris’ face. With a grin Remus couldn’t see, Amaris lowered her hand from the male’s face and spread her hand out across the page he was trying to read.

With another, louder sigh, Remus removed his book from her reach and marked the page he was on before closing it. He calmly set the book off to the side before placing his hands under Amaris’ prone body. With a single movement, Remus flipped Amaris off the couch, and she landed face down on the floor. Remus and Peter chuckled at the sight while James and Sirius laughed as hard as they could without losing their leaves. From the floor, Amaris rolled over and glared daggers at Remus before pointing at her brother and James. Still laying on the floor, she held her fists in front of her; a signal for a fight.

Grinning, the pair stood from their chairs, and Amaris hauled herself off the ground. She stood before the two boys; her fists still held in front of her as she took the defensive. Sirius glanced at James, and James nodded at him. In a flash, James had thrown Amaris over his shoulder and paraded around the room with her. Amaris was flailing wildly, hitting James in the back with her small fists. She felt his body shake with quiet laughter. Unbeknownst to Amaris, Sirius motioned to James, then to Remus. A wicked smile formed on James’ face before he made his way back over to where Remus sat. He unceremoniously dropped Amaris onto the werewolf.

Remus glared at James and Sirius before glancing down at the girl that was once again in his lap. “I can’t get rid of you, can I?” she beamed up at him before shaking her head. “And here I thought just because the three of you couldn’t speak, I’d have a nice, peaceful month.”

~

The five of them sat in Transfiguration. It’d been an entire week since they’d taken their vow of silence. As McGonagall flitted about the classroom checking on the other students, she kept glancing over at the oddly silent trio. McGonagall hadn’t believed it when she hadn’t heard of a single incident they’d caused recently, but as she watched them carefully, she knew it was too good to be true. They were up to something, and she was determined to find out just what was happening.

Strolling over to their desks, she quietly watched as James and Sirius were involved in a rather intense staring contest, Amaris had her face firmly planted against her desk, and Remus and Peter were chatting idly. Folding her arms across her chest, she cleared her throat, and all five of them snapped their attention to their professor. “Would any of you care to tell me just what is going on here?” McGonagall asked sternly, giving the silent trio a pointed look.

The three of them looked at her, then at each other, and back to McGonagall once again. Amaris held up a single finger, and McGonagall was taken aback by being told to wait from a student. Quickly, Amaris lowered her finger and nudged Remus in the side. She gestured toward their professor and motioned for him to tell her why they were remaining silent under her stern glare. Remus caught on quickly, but decided to play dumb. “What? I don’t understand you Amaris, use your words.” Amaris gave him a deadpan look. “Oh, that’s right.” Remus turned toward their professor. “I’m sorry Professor, my friends are idiots and bet each other that they couldn’t remain silent for an entire month.”

Professor McGonagall had every intention to scold them for whatever hijinks they were up to, but upon hearing the explanation, she had second thoughts. There had been no interruptions in class. They hadn’t had a single detention. It was amazing. With a simple, “Very well,” McGonagall strode away from them, wondering if they could last the entire month. To be honest, she wasn’t going to complain if they did. As soon as McGonagall was across the room, Amaris cuffed Remus across the side of his head. 

Rubbing his head, Remus gave Amaris a pointed look. “What? It’s true. You’re all idiots.” Amaris gave him a wounded look, and from behind her, she could feel both James and Sirius leaning against her back. They appeared over her shoulder and gave Remus twin looks that said,  _ We’re only doing this because of you. _ Remus quickly broke under their stares and said, “I know. It means the world to me what you all are doing.” The three of them broke out into wide grins. Sirius and James fell back into their seats, resuming their previously interrupted staring match. Moments later, with a single sigh that she released through her nose, Amaris’ face was planted once again against her desk. Her mind drifted as she thought about just how miserable this next month was going to be. 

~

The Gryffindors sat in their usual seats in the dungeons, most of them scribbling away, jotting down everything Professor Slughorn said. The only two not doing so, of course, were James and Sirius, who instead were writing on a piece of parchment and passing it back and forth between the two of them. It had been two weeks of misery for the three of them. They’d slowly begun losing their minds not being able to speak, and were going absolutely stir crazy by this point. Amaris finally gave up on trying to pay attention in class and began doodling on her parchment. 

Not soon enough, Slughorn released the students, and Amaris shoved her notes into her book and slammed it shut. Rising from her seat, she gave a languid stretch, watching as everyone filed out of the room. Trailing along behind Remus, Amaris wasn’t paying attention to where she was walking. She was too busy pondering about how they would complete the next step of the Animagus process. Had she been paying attention, she would’ve noticed the foot jutting out in front of her. Amaris pitched forward and released her hold on her book, readying to try and catch herself. Behind her, Sirius reached forward, trying to grab hold of the back of his sister’s robes. It was no use though. Moments later, Amaris hit the stone floor with a  _ thump.  _ Cursing internally, Amaris shook her head. The blood in her veins boiled when she heard an all too familiar voice behind her. “You should really watch where you’re walking, Black. It’s too easy to trip in these halls.”

Rolling over on the ground Amaris noticed her mouth was empty. Her eyes widened. In her panic, Amaris had accidentally swallowed her leaf. Furious, she hauled herself off the ground. “You slimy fucking snake,” she ground out through clenched teeth. Around her, everyone in their group’s eyes went wide with realization as soon as they heard Amaris speak. Two weeks spent all for nothing. A few groans could be heard from the growing crowd as the students who had bet on Amaris winning the silence challenge lost. Before anyone had a chance to react, Amaris ripped her wand from its place in her robes and pointed it at Snape. “ _ Locomotor Wibbly!” _ Snape’s legs wobbled beneath him before he dropped to the ground like a sack of bricks. 

In a flash, Remus’ hand was around Amaris’ wrist, and he dragged her away from the scene. Quickly, Sirius scooped her textbook off the floor, and he, James, and Peter rushed to catch up with the pair that was already disappearing around a corner. Remus didn’t release his hold on Amaris until they were safely hidden in an abandoned hallway. As soon as he did, Amaris leaned against the wall behind her, folding her arms across her chest. Remus spun to face her, his face a mask of disbelief and disappointment. “Amaris, what were you thinking?”

Setting her jaw, Amaris stared back evenly at Remus. “Well, I was thinking that because of Snivellus, I just went through two weeks of misery for absolutely no reason at all. I now have to start over from scratch and do it all again!” The three they’d left behind finally strolled around the corner and immediately contemplated leaving as they heard Amaris shouting at Remus. Her next words had them rooted to their spot though. “I was also thinking that Snape is lucky I only hit him with the Jelly-Legs jinx. I should’ve set him on fire like I’ve been wanting to do since last year.”

Remus pinched the bridge of his nose and tried desperately to keep hold of his disappointed tone. “What did I tell you about that, Amaris?”

Amaris pouted back at him. “Grease fires are much too hard to put out.” A devilish smirk took up residence upon her features. “But that’s exactly what makes it so tempting. I want to see just how long it would take him to manage to put himself out, the little grease-ball.” The two broke out into laughter, as did Peter, Sirius, and James who silently joined them. When they deemed Amaris had calmed down enough, they began making their way back to the common room. Behind her, James prodded Amaris in the back. He handed her textbook back, and now, there was a single piece of parchment on top of it. She glanced curiously at the single line scrawled on the page.  _ You need to teach me how to do that. _ Cocking an eyebrow, she glanced back to where James was watching her hopefully. She gave him a single nod. 

Much to Remus’ dismay, that’s exactly what she spent her night in their room doing. 

~

It was now early November, and everyone aside from Remus was huddled beneath James’ invisibility cloak. They stumbled over each other as they tried to quietly make their way to the top of the Astronomy Tower. Tonight was the full moon, and they were going to attempt to create his potion. Peter held the instructions in his grasp, and Amaris and Sirius toted along the rest of the ingredients they would be needing that night. 

James was the only one who had managed to make it the entire month. Sirius had lost his leaf a few days prior as he was roughhousing with James in their room. A stray elbow from James caught Sirius directly in the stomach, and he dropped to the floor, coughing and sputtering. His leaf hit the floor with a wet splat that seemed to echo throughout the room. Moments later, as the realization of what just happened struck Sirius, he pounced on James, trying to get even with him. 

Now, the four of them stood atop the tower. James removed the cloak, and they all shuffled away from each other, happy to no longer be bumping into one another. Amaris glanced at the sky and pursed her lips. “Guys, we may have a slight problem,” she said.

James looked at her with wide eyes, and he nudged Sirius to voice what he couldn’t. Taking a small step forward, Sirius asked his twin. “And what would that be?”

Warily, Amaris pointed at the sky that was oddly dark for it being a full moon. “It’s too cloudy. He needs to remove the leaf from his mouth only in the pure rays from the moon.” 

Frustrated, James looked up at the moonless sky. With a sigh, he flopped onto the floor of the tower and crossed his arms. The rest of them all followed suit as they hoped that maybe they’d catch a break that night. They only needed the moon to peak through the clouds for a moment. It seemed as though the universe had other plans for them that night though. 

The next day, after dinner, Remus finally returned from the hospital wing. He slipped through the door to his dorm and immediately saw the four of his friends sprawled across the room in various locations. James and Peter both laid in their beds, absently staring at the ceiling, and Amaris and Sirius were laying side by side on the floor, muttering to each other. “At least we didn’t waste the moth chrysalis,” Amaris grumbled.

“Yeah, but now we need to figure out how to get our hands on  _ four _ mandrake leaves again. I doubt they’re just going to fall in our lap like last time.” Nobody had noticed yet that Remus had returned, and he silently made his way to the grumbling twins. Hovering over them, he stared down at the two of them with a curious expression. “Oh, hey Remus. Looking terrible as always,” Sirius commented before turning back to Amaris. “I could distract Sprout while you get the clippings. She’d believe me if I told her I needed help in that class. I’m rather dreadful at it.”

With a long sigh, Remus sat on the ground by the twins' heads. "You're dreadful at every class, Sirius. So I take it last night didn't go well?" 

"Oh, last night was fantastic," Amaris said in a heavily faked cheerful tone. "I really wanted to spend my time sitting at the top of the Astronomy Tower snuggled up with those three until nearly dawn."

Remus was shocked. "You were up there until dawn?" 

"Nearly," James' voice said from where he was reclining on his bed, listening intently to their conversation. 

“We came down about an hour before sunrise. If we were considered close before, I’d say we’re damn near inseparable now. Nothing like cuddling for warmth under an invisibility cloak to really bring friends together,” Sirius said, shaking his head at the memory. 

Amaris let out a groan and a shiver ran up her spine. “I’m pretty sure it started snowing at some point. You wouldn’t remember that though as you’d fallen asleep and were snoring in my ear by that point Sirius.”

Sirius had a distant look in his eye before his head snapped to face his twin. “Is that why I woke up to you smacking me repeatedly?” With a laugh, Amaris nodded. After that, the conversation shifted back to the twins plotting their way into stealing more leaves from the nursery. 

~

It was now the holidays. The twins hadn’t gotten a chance to be alone with Professor Sprout long enough to snag the leaves. Now, most of the castle was home spending Christmas with their families, leaving the grounds basically empty. Yesterday, the pair had hatched their plan to sneak into the Herbology room during breakfast. Being the day after Christmas, and the night of the full moon. Now was their only chance to get a hold of them if they wanted to start again this month. 

“If she tries to leave, distract her,” Amaris whispered to James, Peter, and Remus who remained at the table as the twins stood and glanced one last time at Professor Sprout who was chatting happily with Professor Kettleburn. The trio gave them a curt nod, and with that, the twins casually left the Great Hall. As soon as they disappeared from view, they took off down the hall. 

Skidding to a halt in front of the Herbology room, they glanced around, making sure there was nobody watching. Satisfied they were alone, Amaris quickly slipped into the room, and Sirius remained outside, playing the role of lookout. She quickly located the mandrakes and swiped four leaves. Tucking them into her robes, she walked casually out of the room as though she hadn’t been stealing from their Professor. Giving a thumbs up to Sirius as she exited, her twin nodded at her, and they made their way back to the common room. 

Later that night, Remus was already gone, and the four of them sat in a circle, trying to psyche themselves up to go through this again. “It’ll be easy,” James muttered, running a hand through his already messy dark hair. “I made it through the month last time. This time will be easier. Definitely easier.” Dreading every moment of it, James placed the leaf on his tongue and recoiled at the all too familiar bitter taste. Across from him, Amaris and Sirius tapped their leaves together in some form of a cheers before theirs disappeared as well. At the same time, Peter finally mustered up the will to follow along suit. 

Soon after, James and Sirius were already tossing each other about the room, and Peter was laying in his bed, trying to sleep the month away. Amaris decided he had the right idea and stepped out of the room just as Sirius lifted James over his shoulder. Shutting the door behind her, Amaris shook her head and made her way to her own room that was wonderfully empty as Lily had gone home for the holidays this year. 

It was shortly after dinner that the four of them shuffled up to the portrait that led to their common room. They hadn’t thought their plan through all that well, as none of them were able to speak the password to get back in. Last time they’d tried this, there was always someone that would come by to let them through the portrait, but the few Gryffindor students who had stayed over the holidays were nowhere to be seen. Sirius and James tried miming the password to the Fat Lady, but she kept denying them access. Amaris reclined against the wall, and Peter stood beside her, quietly watching James and Sirius make a fool of themselves. Amaris did her best to suppress a yawn and let her eyes slide shut. Odds were they’d be standing in the hall for a while. Sliding down the wall, she made herself comfortable on the floor.

The sound of footsteps had the four of them glancing down the hall at their savior. Remus strolled over to the four Gryffindors sprawled across the floor in front of the portrait. “What have you four done this time?” Sirius pointed toward the Fat Lady and let his arm fall back to the floor. Realization dawned on Remus. “You’re all locked out aren’t you? Can’t say the password.” He chuckled. “Well, good luck with that.” Enjoying the situation all too much, Remus spun on his heel and went to disappear down the hall again. Sure, he’d have to let them in later, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t torment them first. 

Having none of it, Sirius launched himself off the ground and caught up to Remus quickly. He wrapped his arms around Remus’ torso and hauled him over toward the Fat Lady. Dropping Remus back to the floor, he motioned for the werewolf to speak the password. The other three finally hauled themselves off the ground and began surrounding Remus. Knowing he was outnumbered and stood no chance of escape, Remus gave in and let everyone into the common room. 

~

“Black! Potter! Hold it,” McGonagall called out. Amaris glanced behind her, hoping her professor wasn’t calling her name. McGonagall waved her on. She’d noticed her student was being abnormally silent for a week again, but at least Amaris had shown some initiative in her class unlike James and Sirius. Amaris, Remus, and Peter scurried out of the room before McGonagall could change her mind. Folding her arms, the Professor fixed her two trouble students with a stern glare. “Care to explain just what is going on this time?”

James and Sirius glanced at each other before shrugging and miming to their teacher that they couldn’t speak. Minerva let out an exasperated sigh. “Silent game again, I see. Well, if the both of you don’t explain to me just why you decided that passing notes in my class was more important than studying, there will be severe consequences.” She watched as James and Sirius remained unaffected by her threat. The pair were in trouble so often that a mere threat of detention did nothing anymore. More drastic measures would have to be taken. “Mr Potter, you will be suspended from the next quidditch match, and Mr Black,” McGonagall paused. She racked her brain trying to think of anything she could threaten him with that would actually work. “You will be assigned double the homework as the rest of the class.” When she saw him weigh his options silently, she added, “That you will spend every evening completing with me.”

Finally, she could see she’d gotten to him; the boy barely did his work as it was. Sirius and James shared one last desperate look. Defeated, they swallowed hard before responding. They explained that they felt it was unfair how Amaris had lost the bet last time, so they decided a rematch was in order. They apologized for passing notes in her class, and the pair was sent on their way with a simple, “Then I’m sure your sister will be glad to know that she’s won the bet this go round,” from Minerva.

As they exited the room, they let out a simultaneous groan. Amaris, Remus, and Peter had remained outside, waiting for them. Amaris grinned at the sound and held her hand out to Peter who placed a silver Sickle in her hand. Silently, the pair had bet on if they’d come out with their leaves or not. Amaris was amused, but in reality, she was slightly annoyed as she knew she’d have to go pilfer more leaves later on for the pair. Now, she and Peter just had to manage to keep theirs safe. 

~

The five of them strolled out of the castle together. James ruffled his already windswept looking hair, as he’d recently made a habit of and fetched the snitch he kept on him at all times now. His four friends rolled their eyes dramatically at him, knowing what he was about to do. They strolled toward the Black Lake, and as soon as the familiar tree was in view, Amaris took off sprinting toward it. 

Obviously, she was the first to reach their spot, and she sprawled out in the grass, reveling in the bright sunlight on her face. It was almost the end of her month of suffering, and life couldn’t be more perfect. She was currently the only one that remained in the running to create a potion at the next full moon. Since they’d lost theirs so early on, James and Sirius were on a warpath to make Peter and Amaris restart as well. Two weeks ago, they’d snuck up on Peter and scared him so badly, he’d spat his leaf out in a fit of pure fear. 

Amaris had managed to dodge all their attempts so far, and now she only had three days to go. Smiling to herself, she heard her friends finally approaching her. Unbeknownst to her, James and Sirius were hatching a plan. As soon as they were close enough, Sirius stuck his foot out, tripping Remus. The teen pitched forward, landing unceremoniously on top of Amaris. At the sudden weight that was now on her, Amaris’ eyes flew open, and she was met by a familiar green stare. 

Time crawled to a stop. It was just the two of them. If she was being honest with herself, Amaris had begun developing feelings for Remus over the years, and those feelings hit her in full force as he remained hovering above her, stunned. She was painfully aware of everywhere their bodies connected, and Remus felt the same way, but he’d never admit it to Amaris. He didn’t want to make things weird between them because he wholly believed there was no way Amaris could feel the same about him. Below him, he saw Amaris swallow thickly, and his breath hitched in his throat as she leaned up toward him. Amaris’ lips brushed his ear as she whispered so only he could hear, “If this is what you really wanted, you could’ve just said so.” Amaris pulled away from Remus and saw his cheeks quickly flaring red, but he still didn’t make a move to pull away from her. Smirking, Amaris quirked a brow at him, but realization slowly began creeping forward in her mind through her racing thoughts. She’d lost herself completely in the moment and like an idiot, she’d swallowed her leaf. “Shit!” she groaned, letting her head fall back against the grass.

Behind them, James and Sirius let out a cheer and quickly high fived as they realized they’d succeed. Finally, Remus flopped into the grass beside Amaris, and both were still reeling from what had just happened. Content finally, James and Sirius sat beside Amaris, and Peter settled into the grass beside Remus. James continued to catch and release his snitch as he and Sirius became engrossed in a conversation about what girls at school they thought were cute. Peter fell back into the grass and stared at the sky, watching the clouds roll past. Amaris felt a hand brush past hers, and nervously, she reached out, taking it in her grasp. Stealing a glance over at Remus, she gave him a small smile, and once again, his cheeks were tinged in a light pink. 

Life couldn’t get any better than moments like this.

~

Spring rolled around, and in two short months, school would be letting out for the summer. By some miracle, every star and planet must have aligned in the sky to allow James, Sirius, and Amaris to make it through an entire month with their leaves. Each of them now had their potions tucked away carefully in a dark hiding place that wouldn’t be distrubed by anyone. They were so close to finishing this now, they could almost taste it. All they had to do was repeat their incantations every day and wait for a lightning storm. Surely this would be the easiest part, right?

They couldn’t be any more wrong. 

It was early morning on a Saturday, and just like every other weekend, Amaris made her way to the boys’ room. As she nudged the door open quietly, she spied everyone still sleeping soundly. Rolling her eyes, she moved to rouse James and Sirius from their slumber. Groggily, they both looked at her confused as to why she looked so annoyed. Folding her arms, she fixed them both with a stern glare. “It’s well after sunrise. Did you both do your incantation for the day?” Both males fell back against their pillows with a groan. 

Calmly, Amaris pulled the pillow out from beneath her brother’s head and began beating him with it. “Idiots!” she hissed at them. At the sudden commotion, both Remus and Peter shot up in bed, wide awake now. They watched in confusion as Sirius tried unsuccessfully to fend off his sister. “Now you have to start over from the beginning again!” With one last swing at Sirius with his pillow, Amaris spun on her heel before launching the soft object at James’ head before storming out of the room. 

Rubbing his eyes, Remus stared at the pair. “I take it you two messed up the potion?” 

~

It was a dull night in the common room. 

Amaris was laying on Remus’ lap as always, both with their noses buried in a book. Amaris was studying potions, but she was slowly losing focus. Soon, the potion book rested, still open, on her chest as she nodded off. Three pairs of eyes watched the pair curiously. James leaned in toward Sirius and whispered, “Are they together yet? It’s bloody obvious they fancy each other.” Sirius just shook his head. 

Paying them no mind, Remus glanced out the window and noticed the sun was about to set. Amaris was still laying on him, and he peered down at her sleeping form. Gently, he nudged her awake. Not wanting to wake up just yet, and not realizing where she was, Amaris rolled on her side, hiding her face in his stomach. With a soft chuckle, Remus nudged her again, and Amaris groaned. “It’s almost sundown,” he said softly. 

Amaris shot up and glanced around wildly. She quickly muttered a thanks to Remus and promised she’d be right back as she rushed off upstairs. Safely behind the closed door of her room, Amaris pulled out her wand and began her incantation. Just as she was saying the third word, the door behind her flew open, and she stuttered horribly over her words and quickly tried to stash her wand. Annoyed that she’d now ruined her chances of becoming an Animagus any time soon, she whirled around to face Lily. 

Lily eyed her warily before asking, “What were you doing?”

Amaris folded her arms across her chest, giving Lily a deep glare. “Nothing that concerns you.” The black haired girl paused for a second, pursing her lips. “Does this mean we’re on speaking terms, or are you just going to sling insults at me once again? If you’re only meaning to do so, I’d rather skip past that part and get on with my life.” Amaris quickly made to exit the room, but paused mid-stride as Lily spoke up.

“What is it with you?” There was a wild, annoyed look in Lily’s vibrant green eyes. “Ever since the start of last year you’ve been nothing but rude to me.”

Rolling her steely orbs, Amaris gave Lily a deadpan look. “Oh gee, I don’t know Lily. Maybe it’s the fact that you’ve insulted me multiple times while defending your lovely snake of a friend.” Amaris let out a sad sigh, shaking her head. She still couldn’t believe Lily had ditched them all for Severus.

Lily had the gall to appear offended at the statement. “Only because you’re always the one to overreact and start fights with him,” Lily spat, trying desperately to defend Severus.

Amaris threw her hands wide. She was dumbfounded, though she truly shouldn’t have been. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” There had to be a way to get through to Lily that her friend wasn’t as innocent as she wanted to believe. “You’re blind! I don’t care who he was as a child, or what he used to be like,” Amaris stated loudly, cutting off any defense Lily was building. “You’re merely using that as an excuse to defend how awful he is.”

Lily’s face reddened in anger. “And you’re only projecting your hatred for your family onto him for no reason!”

It was like she had slapped Amaris in the face. Amaris’ eyes went dark with resentment. This was by no means the first time Lily had thrown her family in her face, but nevertheless, it still managed to enrage Amaris.“My family has nothing to do with this,” she said darkly. “I act accordingly whenever your  _ friend _ goes out of his way to cause problems. As I recall, I’ve never made the first move yet, but I promise you Lily, things will change.” Amaris stormed the rest of the way to the door. As she opened the door, Amaris paused and glanced over her shoulder at Lily who was still standing in place, dumbfounded. “I was trying to be nice out of respect for you, but knowing how you truly feel, all my reservations are gone. Now, if we’re done here, I believe I have more studying to do.” With that, Amaris left the room, slamming the door shut behind her as she thundered down the stairs back to the common room.

When Amaris flopped down onto the couch with a disgruntled huff, her four friends stared at her curiously. Remus was the first to speak. “I take it something happened with Lily?” He asked softly, watching over his shoulder as the redhead loudly stormed through the common room and disappeared through the portrait of the Fat Lady. 

Exasperated, Amaris sprawled out on the couch, her head coming to rest against Remus’ shoulder. “She made me mess up my incantation, then of course, she told me how I’m a terrible person and only hate Snape because of my family.” Amaris paused, taking in Sirius’ angry expression. With a sigh, she continued on, “I don’t get it. How can she be so blinded when it comes to him?”

Beneath her, Remus merely shrugged. “They’ve been friends for years. She knows a different person than we see.”

Amaris gave him an exaggerated eye roll and said, “It doesn’t matter who a person used to be. It matters who they become.”


	4. Year Four - Animagus

Peter and Remus sat on the train together waiting for their friends to finally arrive. Peter had brought some cans of muggle soda for everyone this year. It was one of his favorites, and knowing his friends, aside from Remus, were purebloods, he was sure they’d never had such a thing before. Handing a can of cola to Remus, they smiled and cracked them open. 

As James, Sirius, and Amaris stumbled into their usual compartment, they fell over one another as they tried to escape an already enraged Snape. Sirius quickly stood and slammed the compartment door shut, leaving Snape to helpless bang against the window as both James and Amaris stood, helping Sirius hold the door shut. Unsurprised that his friends were already wreaking havoc, Remus took another sip of his soda before asking, “And what did you do this time?”

“We only gave Snivellus a little help entering his compartment as we passed by. He seemed to be struggling with it,” Sirius said, struggling to hold the door shut as Snape began yanking on the handle.

Amaris stood slightly, peering out of the window at Snape. “And we’ll do it again too!” she shouted through the door. “Open the door Sirius, I think Snivellus needs another taste of the knockback jinx!”

“Come now Amaris,” James said, still keeping one hand on the door as he pulled out his wand with the other. “We need to think outside the box. I say we give him boils this time.” Not even bothering to try and deal with their friends anymore, Remus and Peter went back to their conversation about things they loved from the muggle world. 

They were interrupted a few minutes later by Amaris yelling, “Yeah, that’s right, you walk away like the coward you are Snape! Little Lily coming to save you once again!” Outside the compartment, Lily had stumbled upon the scene and grabbed Snape by the arm, pulling him away from the compartment door. She muttered to him about how they weren’t worth the trouble. Once they were out of sight, James, Sirius, and Amaris fell into their usual seats and beamed happily at the pair who were now shaking their heads at them. 

Finally noticing what they were holding, James cocked his head to the side, eyeing the cans wearily. “What are those?” Remus and Peter shared a knowing look.

“They’re called soda,” Peter replied, holding his can out for the three purebloods to inspect. “It’s a popular muggle drink.”

They all gawked at the aluminum can in awe. “And what does it taste like?” Amaris asked, trying to peer into Remus’ soda. Amused, Remus held his soda out for Amaris to try. Unsure, Amaris reached out, taking the can carefully in her hand. She stared at the opening for a moment, and both James and Sirius were watching her intently, waiting to see her reaction. Finally, she took a sip and looked pleasantly surprised. “That’s amazing! Do you have any more?”

Grinning, Peter produced the three cans he’d brought along for them from his bag. James, Sirius, and Amaris grabbed them excitedly before their faces grew bewildered. The tops were, of course, sealed, and they had no clue how to open them. Before they could figure it out, Peter gave them a word of advice. “Now, before opening them, you have to make sure you give them a good shake to mix the flavors together. It won’t taste right if you don’t.” Positive their friends would never lead them wrong, the three happily did as they were told. Remus caught on to just what Peter was up to and sneakily inched away from Amaris. “Perfect. Once they’re mixed properly, you can open them. Just grab that tab on the top there and pull it toward you.”

The three did just that, and the compartment immediately erupted into chaos. Amaris let out a scream as a geyser of soda sprang out of the small opening into her face. Remus and Peter could no longer contain their laughter. Sirius and James dropped their cans to the floor, only making the situation worse. Everyone was now completely covered in soda, and the three purebloods were eerily calm for a moment before they pounced on Remus and Peter who were completely consumed with laughter. “You sneaky little rat!” Sirius yelled, dragging Peter off his seat. 

Amaris took the opportunity to pin Remus down to the now empty seat. “You knew what was going to happen, and you went along with his plan. That won’t be so easily forgiven,” she said darkly, pulling his half full soda from his grasp. Grinning wildly, Amaris dumped the remainder of his cola on him. On the floor, James and Sirius were doing the same to Peter with the three cans that had been discarded earlier. Falling back into her seat, she crossed her arms and smirked at Remus as he sat up. “Now we’re even.” 

Everyone made their way back to their seats, soaked with the sticky drink. It was going to be a very long, uncomfortable ride to school this year.

~

“So, this year I think you’re going to have to distract Professor Sprout while I get what we need unless you want to wait until the holidays again. Sirius, are you even listening to me?” Amaris smacked her brother on the shoulder, snapping his attention away from the fifth year Ravenclaw girl he was just flirting with from across the Great Hall. 

Sirius gave his sister a wounded look. “Of course I was paying attention.” Everyone in their group gave him a combined disbelieving scoff.

Amaris cocked a single eyebrow at him. “Yeah? What did I just say then?”

Sirius was already checking out a different girl in Ravenclaw, and Amaris smacked him again. “You said something about how you wish you could be as attractive as your wonderful big brother.”

Fighting the urge to slap her brother once again, Amaris settled on saying, “You’re still only five minutes older than me, and dear brother, you’re the farthest thing from attractive. They only flirt back with you out of pity.” Amaris received a shove from her brother, and she fell back into Remus who only pushed her back into Sirius. The pair went back and forth like this for a minute, shoving an annoyed Amaris between the two of them as James and Peter merely watched. The pair cracked up laughing when Amaris hit both Sirius and Remus on the back of the head. “Would you two cut it out? I’m trying to be productive here!”

Remus gave her a wide eyed look. “You? Productive? Who are you, and what have you done with the Amaris we all know and tolerate?” 

“Don’t get too excited Remus, I’m only useful when it comes to breaking the rules and causing fights.” Amaris gave a sly grin to him before leaning in to whisper to everyone. “Now, back to a matter of true importance, the full moon is in two days.”

Beside her, Remus groaned. “Don’t remind me.”

Everyone gave him a pitying look. Amaris made a mental note to leave him some chocolate on his pillow that night. Bringing herself back to the conversation, she began plotting with everyone. Their plan this month was to have Sirius and James distract Professor Sprout while she went off looking for the leaves while Peter played lookout for her. Remus was their back up distraction in case for whatever reason James and Sirius failed. With their plan in place, they only had to wait until they had Herbology tomorrow to put it into action. 

~

Their plan had gone by without a hitch, but like almost every other time before, Amaris and Peter didn’t make it the entire month. Surprisingly, James and Sirius managed to do it once again, and it was up to everyone else to make sure that they didn’t forget their incantation this time. It was Amaris’ day on wake-up duty, and she was up before the sun was. Quietly, she snuck out of her room and made her way up to the boys dorm. Smirking, she quietly opened the door and shut it, careful to not disturb them. Amaris crept into the middle of the room, placed her hands on her hips, and yelled, “Rise and shine, boys!” 

She couldn’t help but laugh as Peter tumbled out of his bed in surprise, and the other three shot up in the beds staring at her wide eyed. Shaking his head in annoyance, Remus fell back into his bed. Both Sirius and James grabbed their pillows, quickly launching them at Amaris. Both hit her easily, and the pair pulled themselves from their beds and grabbed their wands as they muttered their incantations. As soon as they were done, they moved to crawl back into their beds. “Come on you two,” Amaris said. “Today might just be the day. Look outside. Seems like it’s gonna storm today.” 

Quickly, everyone fell from their beds and rushed to the window. Sure enough, the sky was a bleak grey with spots of almost black. “What happens if it starts storming in the middle of the day? They can’t just go out and take their potions when anyone could walk by,” Remus pointed out. 

Amaris shrugged. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

They all went about their day as usual, and sure enough, by lunch, the rain began. It wasn’t the lightning storm they’d been hoping for yet, but it was something. The rain continued on throughout the day, getting progressively worse. By dinner, a loud clap of thunder rolled through the castle. The five of them looked at each other, and as calm as they could, they stood from their table and left the Great Hall. As soon as they were out of view, they rushed back to the common room, and James and Sirius were the first in their room. Carefully, they removed their potions from their hiding places and found they’d turned a vibrant blood red. “I guess that means it worked,” Sirius commented, staring curiously at his potion. 

James held his invisibility cloak up in front of everyone. “Shall we?” The five of them huddled together beneath the cloak, somehow managing to remain close enough that it encompassed all of them. At a painfully slow pace, they made their way out of the castle and toward the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Slipping past the treeline, they walked a bit further into the forest until they felt they were completely obscured from prying eyes. Letting the cloak fall to the ground, the five of them stood in the forest as they listened to the pouring rain beating the leaves above them. Another clap of thunder rocked the world around them. James and Sirius gave each other a wary look before holding their potions up. They quickly pulled out their wands and recited their incantation one last time. Together, they removed the tops from their phials, and James said, “Bottoms up.” 

The pair drank their potions, and the three onlookers watched nervously as they prayed nothing went wrong. It seemed as though nothing was happening, and both Sirius and James were blankly staring off into the distance. Then, they began the change. Both Sirius and James disappeared, only to be replaced by a shaggy, black dog, and a large stag. Nobody moved for a long moment. Finally, Amaris rushed forward. “Sirius! You’re adorable!” She dropped to her knees, ruffling the dog’s ears. “Can we keep him like this forever?” she asked, facing Remus and Peter. Sirius let out an annoyed bark before transforming back into his human self. Amaris pouted. “No, turn back into a dog. You can’t talk that way.”

Sirius gave a sigh, and they all turned to watch James turn back into himself. “Well, that was something. Now we just have to wait for the two slackers, and then the real fun can begin.”

~

Late at night, Amaris made her way back up to her dorm room, ready to collapse in her bed and sleep for the next three days. Fate seemed to have different plans for her though. As she stepped through the door to her room, Lily was sitting perched on her bed, waiting patiently for her roommate to return. Amaris spared her a single glance as she passed by the redhead’s bed, and as she climbed into her own, she heard Lily’s quiet voice finally break the silence. “Amaris, can I talk to you about something?”

Rolling over, Amaris gave Lily a curious look. “I don’t know, are we on speaking terms right now? Every time we talk you find some way to insult me, and I’m not exactly in the mood to deal with that at this moment.”

“I’m not going to insult you. I’m sorry, I just,” Lily paused, not knowing how to say what she wanted. In the dark, Amaris heard Lily let out a long sigh. “I’m starting to worry.”

Rolling back over onto her back, Amaris glanced up at the ceiling. “About?” She and Lily hadn’t managed to have a true conversation in the last two years without it ending in insults and the pair being angry with each other. Rightfully, Amaris was weary of where this was going. 

“Severus.” Lily’s response had Amaris rolling her eyes. “I stole a glance at his journal today, and there were some weird spells in there Amaris. Ones I’ve never seen before, and they didn’t seem pleasant.”

At this, Amaris sat up in her bed. “Weird how?”

Lily worried her lip, wondering just how much she should tell Amaris. “I don’t know. It’s just, he’s been talking about the Dark Arts a lot more than usual. Before you say anything, I still don’t think he’s evil. He’s just confused. I want to help him, but I don’t know how.”

“Lily, I’ve told you this before. I don’t think there’s a way to help him. Even if there was, I highly doubt he even wants help. Just let nature run its course and allow him to become what he was destined to be.”

Amaris heard Lily take a deep breath, hold it for a moment as she thought, then finally she released it. “There has to be a way,” she said determined. “He wasn’t always like this. He was always so nice to me when we were growing up.” There was a slight pain in Lily’s voice that tugged at Amaris’ heart. She could somewhat relate to Lily’s pain. Walburga had been somewhat kind and normal to both her and Sirius when they were children. As soon as she’d realized they weren’t the same as the rest of the family, she became what the pair knew to this day. 

“People change,” Amaris muttered sadly.

“Maybe so, but I’m not giving up yet.”

Amaris worried her bottom lip slightly, not sure exactly what to say. She wanted to be there for Lily, but at the same time, she wasn’t exactly sure if she could be. “Well, I’ll always be here if you need me, but I won’t be helping change a snake.” What she’d really wanted to say was,  _ I’ll be here to help pick up the pieces when it’s over _ , but she couldn’t bring herself to.

In the dark, Lily gave an odd half smile that couldn’t be seen. “Thanks, I think. I’m gonna get some sleep. Night Amaris.” Lily rolled over in her bed, closing her eyes as she mulled over every way she could to try and turn Snape away from his interest in the Dark Arts. 

“Night.” With that, Amaris did the same. She buried her face in her pillow and wished more than anything that things could go back to how they were in their first year. Amaris wanted them all to be friends again, but until Lily got hurt, she couldn’t see that happening. Even then, would things really be right again?

The four boys met Amaris in the common room before heading off to breakfast. They were arguing still about something they’d stayed up half of the night discussing. Amaris only half listened as they carried on. Her mind was still reeling over what Lily had told her last night. When she’d woken up that morning, the girl was already gone from their room, and she hadn’t been in the common room either. Amaris trailed along behind the boys, completely disconnected from anything that was going on. When they reached the Great Hall, she quietly took her seat between Remus and Sirius. Scanning the room, there was still no sign of Lily. Quickly, she spared a glance over at the Slytherin table. Snape was there, his nose buried in a book. A nudge in her side brought Amaris’ attention back to her friends. “What’s up with you? You’ve been unnaturally quiet all morning,” Sirius commented, searching Amaris’ grey eyes for any indication of what was wrong.

She glanced away quickly, grabbing a piece of toast from one of the platters and taking a small bite. This gave her enough time to decide that she should tell them about what happened. “I’m worried about Lily.”

This caught everyone off guard. They obviously knew the pair had been on rocky terms for a while now. “You’re worried about her? Since when?” Sirius asked, a hint of concern lacing his words.

Annoyed, Amaris turned to face him. “Since always. She’s still my friend. I think. I don’t know.” Amaris paused for a moment, thinking back to everything that had happened between them. “She actually talked to me last night, and now I haven’t seen her all morning. I’m concerned.”

“What did she say last night?” Remus asked, sharing Amaris’ worry. He’d always had a small soft spot for the girl. She had a big heart, and though she may have a bad choice of friends, he really couldn’t judge her for that considering the company he kept.

Amaris shifted uneasily beside him. “It was about Snape. He’s apparently become more fond of the Dark Arts than ever before. Even Lily is freaking out about it now. It must be bad if even she’s seeing the problem now.”

Nobody said anything for a moment, letting the words truly sink in. “That can’t be good,” James said finally. “We should do something about it?” he suggested, the gears in his head already turning.

Sirius scoffed at him before taking a sip of pumpkin juice. “Trying to play the role of knight in shining armor, Potter?” He gave the teen a devilish smirk.

A small, almost imperceptible flush crept onto James’ cheeks. He didn’t meet Sirius’ eyes as he said, “What, no.”

“C’mon, we know you fancy her,” Remus said, enjoying how uncomfortable James looked for once. It was hard to fluster the teen, but when they could, the group would always run with it. 

Amaris took her turn after Remus. She leaned forward in her seat, catching his hazel stare. “Don’t even try to deny it. You act like we can’t see you staring at her like a creep every moment you get.” Someone would have to be blind to not notice the way James would stare at Lily. He’d always done it, but since the start of the year it had happened more than ever before. 

“Not to mention the excessive showing off in front of her,” Peter chimed in. “I’ve never seen so many people being hexed at once. And that stupid trick with the snitch you’ve got.”

Remus chuckled. “Don’t forget he always has to make sure his hair looks perfectly windswept when he’s within five feet of her.” Now everyone but James was laughing. The teen sputtered and tried to form a coherent response, but they’d all been so accurate he didn’t know what to say back to them. 

Amaris smirked from where she still leaned across the table. “Poor boy, you’ll never stand a chance with that girl.” She leaned back to sit normally again and folded her arms across her chest dismissively. “Best start moving on now before it’s too late.”

At that, James found a single thread of thought to latch on to, and he went with it. “Shut up Amaris. At least I’m capable of caring about someone like that.”

The black haired teen placed her hand over her heart and feigned offense. “I’m perfectly capable of that.”

“Yeah? Name one,” James challenged her, happy the topic of him liking Lily could be dropped. 

“Hey, I only said I was capable, not that I’ve ever fancied someone.” Amaris completely dodged James’ words. She still hadn’t even admitted her feelings for Remus were anything more than good friends to the subject of her affection. There was no way she was going to do so in front of everyone. Hell, she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to work up the courage to tell Remus. Ever since the one incident of them holding hands last year, they’d both grown more aware of how the other felt, but neither of them made a move to act on it. 

“Amaris,” James’ voice pulled Amaris back to the present. “You’re telling me that you’ve never found someone that you like more than a friend?”

Amaris tapped a finger against her lips as though she was thinking hard about her answer. “Nope.” Beside her, Remus deflated slightly. He’d been listening intently, curious if he stood a chance with her. While he was glad to hear she didn’t fancy anyone else, he was still off put by her answer.

Sirius rolled his eyes at her answer. He knew better. “Don’t listen to her. She’s a liar,” Sirius accused, sending a pointed look toward his sister.

“Oh?” Amaris asked, spinning in her seat to face Sirius. “And how would you know?” Her face challenged him to go on.

He gave his twin a deadpan stare. “‘Maris, I’m your twin brother. I know you better than anyone else.” There was a mischievous glint in his steely eyes. “I can obviously see when you’re blindy smitten with someone.” From where he’d been dejectedly stabbing his eggs and half listening to the conversation, Remus perked up and began watching the twins intently.

His words send a pang of worry through Amaris. Sirius was the one person in the world she couldn’t hide a single secret from and they both knew it, but she wasn’t going to give herself away so easily. “You’re blind and utterly mad if you think I’m  _ smitten with someone. _ ”

Sirius was enjoying tormenting his sister a little too much at this point. He peered over Amaris’ shoulder and quickly met Remus’ gaze for a fraction of a second before focusing on Amaris once again. “So you wouldn’t mind if I told everyone then?”

Amaris’ heart was about to pound its way out of her chest. Sirius wouldn’t do such a thing. Would he? Unwilling to back down, Amaris simply said, “Go ahead. Nobody would believe it anyway.”

A wide grin spread across Sirius’ features. He glanced around at everyone dramatically, reveling in the fact that they were all now leaning forward in their seats, listening intently. “Very well. Amaris Black has hopelessly fallen for one R-”

Amaris was on him in a moment. He knew. She had clapped a hand over his mouth before he could finish his sentence. “Sirius Orion Black, if you don’t shut your mouth, I promise you I will hex you so badly you won’t be able to speak for an entire month,” she hissed. Behind the pair, Remus was very much interested in what Sirius was about to say. Was he about to say his name? 

Pulling his sister’s hand away from his mouth, Sirius flashed her a shit-eating grin. “Oh, a threat. I do believe that just confirmed my suspicions.” Amaris sent him a fiery glare as she returned back to her seat. “Quite adorable if I do say so myself. You should go for it sis.”

James and Peter were on the edge of their seats, absolutely dying with curiosity now. “Come on Sirius, you can’t leave us hanging like that,” James whined. Peter nodded vigorously beside him. Remus was oddly silent.

Sirius took his time in meeting every one of their stares. He gave Remus a lingering look before meeting his sister’s glare that promised something worse than death if he spilled her secret. With a dramatic sigh, Sirius said, “Sorry boys, but I value my ability to speak too much. How else am I supposed to ask girls out if I can’t woo them with my best one liners first?” Peter and James fell back into their seats with a groan. Amaris collapsed to the table in relief. Remus sat unmoving, staring down at his eggs, trying to remember everyone he knew in school whose name starts with an R aside from his own.

~

Months had passed, and Peter and Amaris had continued trying to complete the Animagus process. Amaris had succeeded in making a potion and now all she had to do is wait for the next thunderstorm to roll through. Hopefully it would happen before the end of the year, or she’d have to start over again in her fifth year. Time was quickly running out as there was only a few weeks left of the year. It was yet another full moon, and Amaris was about to leave the boys’ dorm for the night. Before she did, she placed a bag of chocolate on Remus’ pillow, as always, with a note signed,  _ Your favorite Chocolate Fairy. _ Remus still didn’t know which of his friends was the culprit, and he had been trying to narrow it down to one. Little did he know they rotated each month between the four of them and began leaving the notes to throw him off. 

With a smile, Amaris made her way to leave, but as she went to open the door, the most beautiful sound she could ever heard rattled the windows of the castle. Thunder. She spun on her heel and met the excited stares of James and Sirius as Peter was already asleep in his bed. Quickly, they flew out of their beds, and James immediately pulled his cloak out of his trunk. They all rushed down to the common room, and Amaris dashed upstairs to retrieve her potion. She let out a squeal of pure joy when she saw the potion had turned blood red. She’d done it! Tucking the phial carefully in her pocket, she rushed back downstairs and almost collided with the two boys as she skidded to a halt. “It’s time,” was all she said. Glancing around the empty common room, James quickly threw the fabric over the three of them, and in moments, they were off. They stumbled over each other, as they rushed out of the castle into the darkness.

They soon found themselves standing in the same clearing in the Forbidden Forest that James and Sirius had transformed in, and another clap of thunder echoed across the sky. “Does it hurt?” Amaris asked shakily. She quickly recited the last incantation as she waited for them to respond, and now came the moment she was supposed to drink her potion. 

“A bit,” Sirius said solemnly. “You’ll be fine though.” Before she could talk herself out of it, Amaris stepped out from beneath the cloak and downed her potion. 

She took a few deep breaths and a fiery pain spread through her body. Amaris lost herself in the feeling. She tried to take deep breaths, but it seemed as though her lungs had quit functioning. Forcing down her panic, she could begin to see the outline of a small mammal in her mind. Focusing on nothing more than the shape of the animal, the world around her began to tilt and shift. She lost herself in every way possible. When everything finally stilled around her, Amaris shook her head, trying to shake off the last few remaining tendrils of nausea that clung to her. Amaris jumped at the sound of Sirius and James cheering loudly. They dropped the cloak from their shoulders, and Amaris stared blankly at the two of them. When had they gotten so tall? “You did it Amaris!” her twin cheered, scooping her off the ground. 

Amaris tried to yell at her brother, but the only thing that came out of her mouth was a series of barks. Startled, she looked down at herself. She was met by the sight of tiny black paws and a fluffy orange and white tail. Sirius gave her head a single pat before placing her back on the ground. “Quite the adorable little fox you make,” he said, beaming. 

“I’d say it suits her rather well. Cunning, mischievous little thing she is,” James added. “Go on then, change back so we can head back inside. I’d rather not get struck by lightning tonight.”

Nodding, Amaris pictured her human self in her mind, and the world went topsy-turvy again. She quickly glanced over her shoulder before ducking back under the cloak James had already pulled back over his shoulder. “I don’t still have a tail or anything, do I?” she asked, terrified something could have gone wrong.

When the pair laughed at her, she smacked them both on the arm. “Now we just need to get Peter to successfully make his potion and we’ll finally be done with all this,” Sirius muttered. 

“Until then,” Amaris began, a whirl of ideas floating around in her mind, “I do think we should, y’know practice being animals.”

With an eyebrow cocked, James turned to face her. “Just what do you have in mind?”

~

There were now only a few days left before school was out for the summer, and Amaris had decided to use this time to drive Remus absolutely mad. She’d managed to talk James and Sirius into not telling anyone about her transforming just yet, which is how she stalked up to him while he was alone on the lawn without him knowing it was her. When Amaris was five feet away from Remus sitting under their tree, he glanced over at her curiously. Amaris gave a languid stretch and a yawn before trotting over to him. 

Not knowing what to do, Remus cocked an eyebrow at the small red fox that was now rubbing its head affectionately against his arm. “Hello there,” he said to the fox, and it paused, its large brown eyes settling on him. He watched as the fox twitched its ears and placed its front paws on his arm. When he didn’t bat her away, Amaris used this to her advantage, and hopped into his lap. Startled, Remus set his book off to the side and gathered the fox up in his hands and carefully placed it beside him, as far away as he could. He pointed a single finger at it, and the fox’s ears laid flat against its head in response. “You stay over there.”

The fox let out a huff and sat on the ground. Satisfied, Remus grabbed his book and opened it, sending the fox a sideways glance. It was still sitting beside him, unmoving. Bewildered by its odd behavior, Remus went back to reading. He didn’t get very far as he kept glancing out of the corner of his eye at the fox. It was slowly inching closer to him until it was once again touching him, resting its chin on his forearm. Remus shut his book once again and glared down at the fox that was adorably staring up at him. “Don’t you have anything better to be doing?” Remus’ free hand moved to his face, rubbing small circles on his forehead. “Look at me, I’m talking to a bloody fox.” When the fox gave a humorous yip, he glowered at it. “What are you even doing here?!”

Taking her opportunity, Amaris leapt into Remus’ lap once again and placed her front paws on his shoulders. She stared into his green eyes for a single moment before licking the side of his face. Remus once again tossed the fox off his lap and crossed his arms. “I’m not going to get anything done with you here, am I?” The fox gave him another yip before rolling over in the grass, exposing her stomach to him. Remus had to admit, the animal was positively adorable, but at the same time, it was a pain in the ass. It kind of reminded him of a certain black haired girl he knew. Shaking his head, he gave her stomach a quick scratch before moving to stand. 

Amaris quickly rolled over and stood as well. She stared up intently at Remus with her head cocked to the side. As Remus began walking back to the castle, Amaris trotted along beside him. When he stopped, she would stop beside him and give him a goofy stare with her tongue lolling out of the side of her mouth. “You can’t go back to the castle with me,” Remus scolded the fox when they paused together for the fourth time. He’d only made it halfway back the school by this point, and Remus was becoming increasingly frustrated with every passing second. “Go back home now.”

When his furry companion made no move to leave, Remus sighed and bent down, picking her up. He walked a few paces back toward the tree and set her down. With a single finger pointed at her, Remus commanded Amaris to stay. Amaris did as he said, and when Remus was sure she wasn’t going to follow him anymore, he made his leave. Amaris pranced along happily behind him. Remus was completely unaware he was still being trailed, and when he opened the door to step back into the castle, an annoyed sound left him as a streak of orange bolted between his legs into the castle.

Amaris sat in front of Remus, staring at him happily. Still holding the door open, Remus motioned for her to go back through it. Amaris could see the frustration rolling of him in waves. Content with her work, Amaris laid on the floor and rested her chin against her front paws. Rolling his eyes, Remus stormed over to where Amaris lay and scooped her off the ground. He carried her back to the door, and Amaris took this opportunity to drag her tongue back up his cheek. Remus let out a disgusted noise and placed the fox on the ground outside. 

He tried to shut the door before she could dash back inside, but he was too slow. Amaris bolted between his legs once again and when Remus spun back around, she pounced on his feet playfully. Amaris let out a tiny yelp as she was plucked off the ground without her knowledge. Remus’ hands were around her tiny chest as he held her at eye level. “What do you want from me?” he half-yelled at the fox, almost shaking her in frustration. 

A familiar voice caught both of their attention. “Oh, Remus. There you are,” Sirius said, breaking out into a fit of laughter as he caught sight of Remus holding Amaris with a wild expression. Amaris on the other hand was glancing back at her brother with her tongue hanging out of her mouth again as she panted. James rounded the corner behind Sirius and followed suit. 

“Remus, just what are you doing?” James managed to say as he laughed. 

Remus’ eyes never left Amaris. “This bloody fox won’t leave me alone.” Amaris’ head turned back to face Remus. Before he could defend himself, she began assaulting his face with wet, fox kisses. 

Both James and Sirius knew exactly what was going on, and that made them laugh even harder. “Just put her back outside Remus,” Sirius cackled. 

Remus’ glare finally shifted to his friends. “ _ Just put her back outside,” _ he mocked. “You think I haven’t tried that?!”

Sirius lightly smacked James as he doubled over with laughter. “Here, I’ll help you this time.” Sirius fought back another wave of laughter as he brushed past Remus and placed a hand on the door. Warily, Remus placed Amaris on the step just outside the castle. She glanced at her brother who was still trying to hold back from dying of laughter. “See, now we just close the door.” Sirius shut the door slowly, and Amaris remained sitting outside. 

She glanced at the open window that was beside the door. Through it, she could hear Remus shouting. “Now she’s just making a fool of me!” Both Sirius and James could be heard cracking up. Now was her chance, Amaris took a few steps back before running full speed toward the window. At the last moment, she leapt as high as she could. Her front paws clung to the window desperately as her back paws scrambled against the stone uselessly. Finally, one of her paws found a small lip in the stone, and she used it to propel herself through the window. 

Once all four paws were on the ground again, she was sprinting forward, trying to catch up to the three Marauders. When she did, she slowed her pace and wove her way through Remus’ legs a few times to announce her presence. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Remus groaned. 

Sirius placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Well, it looks like you’ve got a new friend Remus.” Fed up, Remus walked away from his friends that were laughing at his misery once again. Amaris yipped and picked up her pace to keep up with him, nipping at his heels the entire way back to Gryffindor tower. 

When James and Sirius fell through the portrait hall, doubled over with now silent laughter, they spotted Amaris sitting on the first stair that led to the boy’s dorm. Sirius and James exchanged knowing looks and raced each other to their dorm room. Amaris joined in their excitement, bouncing around on her paws and letting out happy yips. As soon as the door was open, Amaris was the first through the opening and she leapt onto Remus’ lap as he sat on his bed. Her tail swished happily from side to side and she rolled around excitedly in the teen’s arms, playfully trying to bite his fingers. 

Sirius shut the door and cocked an eyebrow at the pair on the bed. Amaris was now rubbing her head into the crook of Remus’ neck. “Amaris, would you stop acting all lovey-dovey toward Remus? It’s starting to get a little weird.” At this, even Peter who had been laying in his bed, curiously watching Remus and his furry companion, sat up in wonder. 

As the fox stilled against him, Remus’ eyes widened, then immediately narrowed at James and Sirius who were smirking wildly. “Wait, Amaris?” The small animal that was in his lap grew much heavier, and Remus glanced down, staring into the innocent grey eyes of Amaris. 

“Hi, Remus,” Amaris cooed. 

Remus’ face went blank as he continued to watch her. “Amaris,” he said lowly. “You have three seconds to start running.”

Her face paled. “You wouldn’t.”

“Three.”

“Remus.”

“Two.” 

“Remus!”

“One.” Before he could grab her, Amaris dashed off his lap and took off across the room. Sirius and James were still blocking the door, keeping Amaris locked in the room with the eerily calm werewolf. Peter remained on his cot, well out of the pair’s way. Remus slid off of his bed and snagged his pillow, slowly stalking toward where Amaris cowered in one of the corners. As he neared her, Amaris prepared to run. As she ducked to avoid his reaching arm, Remus caught the back of her collar, and her momentum had both of them tumbling to the ground. Amaris’ back hit the ground, and Remus landed on top of her. 

As he kept her pinned to the ground, Remus used the pillow that was still in his grasp to half-smother her. Amaris wriggled in his grasp, but Remus wasn’t letting up. As a last resort, Amaris transformed once again and dashed out from beneath the pillow. Finally free, she skidded to a halt behind Sirius and peered around his legs at where Remus still knelt on the ground. 

He shook his head slowly. “I can’t believe you guys. You all can sometimes be the biggest pain in the ass I’ve ever had to deal with.” Everyone glanced at Remus sheepishly. “But, you’re all the best friends I’ve ever had.” The three humans in the room quickly beamed at Remus, and Amaris, unable to smile gave a happy bark. Remus gave her a deadpan stare. “Except you. You’re always a pain in my ass.” With a huff, Amaris made her way forward, still weary that Remus would try to smother her again. 

When she realized he wasn’t going to, she sat down in front of him. Shaking his head, Remus reached out and scratched behind Amaris’ ear. She leaned against his hand happily. “I still can’t get my head around the fact that you all did this for me.” Amaris let out another bark and rolled over onto her back. Remus crossed his arms and cocked a brow at her. “I’m not going to rub your belly Amaris. That’s just weird.”

Transforming back into a human, Amaris was still sprawled out across the floor. “You did it earlier.” Remus’ face paled slightly before his cheeks flushed at the realization. “Come on Remus, it isn’t  _ that weird. _ Just two friends enjoying a good tummy rub. It’d be like if you gave Sirius one when he was a dog,” Amaris said, pouting.

Sirius shook his head from where he now sat on his bed. “Definitely weird,” he chimed in. “I don’t want Remus’ hands anywhere near my stomach in that manner.” Sirius paused, giving his sister a devilish look. She sat up slowly, ready to pounce on her brother if need be. “We all know you do Amaris, because you—”

“Sirius!” Amaris screamed, throwing herself at her twin. Her hand clasped over his mouth. “Remember my threat from earlier this year? It still stands, but this time, I’ll make sure it’s two months”

Sirius gasped. “You wouldn’t,” he muttered against his sister’s hand. 

“Would.” Groaning, Sirius shoved his sister off of him, and Amaris went tumbling back onto the floor. The room went silent for a moment, Amaris smirking up at her brother, urging him to say something so she could have an excuse to hex him into silence 

To her dismay, James was the one that broke the silence. “I feel like we should come up with some way to talk about our extra-curricular activities without anyone else finding out.”

Sirius sat up in his bed, casting James an odd look. “And how do you suppose we do that?”

James shrugged. “We could use nicknames.” 

Everyone in the room pondered the idea for a moment. It wasn’t a half bad idea in theory. “How exactly would that help though?” Amaris asked, now staring at the ceiling from where she lay. 

“Think about it. Every time we need to talk about our newly acquired talent, we could use a codename for it. And we could use one for Remus’ furry problem.”

Remus didn’t look convinced yet. “And just what do you suggest calling me?”

Amaris popped up into a sitting position. “Wolfy!” she called out immediately. A second later, a pillow smacked her in the face from where Sirius was perched on his bed. 

Peter piped up finally. “What about Moony?” he asked meekly, not wanting to get a pillow thrown at him. 

The four of them mulled over the name. “I like it,” James said, grinning. “Remus, you’ll be known as Moony.” 

“Me next!” Amaris called out.

“Obnoxious,” Sirius immediately suggested. Amaris grabbed the pillow that rested in her lap and threw it at him. Sirius easily dodged it. 

James shook his head at the pair. “Red?” he offered before shaking his head. “Too manly for you.” 

“What about Vixen?” Remus asked, glancing at Amaris sheepishly. 

“That’s perfect! Now, what should we call Sirius? I vote for Mongrel.” Amaris beamed, proud of her suggestion. It definitely fit her brother perfectly.

Rolling his eyes, Sirius scoffed before flopping back to lounge on his bed. “No way, I need to be called something cool, like Padfoot.” Knowing there was no way of talking Sirius out of the name he’d already chosen for himself, they moved on. “James?”

James was silent for a moment, his face scrunched up as he was deep in thought. “What about Prongs?” Everyone nodded in agreement. “Well, that settles it. As soon as you master transforming, we’ll figure out your name Peter!”The room was now alight with happy chatter.

Amaris sat bolt upright as a thought dawned on her. Everyone quieted down, waiting for her to speak. “What do you think we should call ourselves? We can’t have cool code names without having a group name.”

The five of them thought on it for a moment. Each of them were at a loss for what to call their small group of troublemaking misfits. A small grin began forming on James lips before he proudly stated, “We’ll be the Marauders.”

~

It was now time to leave the castle once again. For once, Amaris and Sirius weren’t sad to be going back home, but they were chattering on excitedly about everything they’d get to do next year now that almost all of them could transform. They’d given Peter everything he would need to try and attempt the process at home. They hoped that without the stress of classes and all the other students around he’d have better luck. If he came back being able to transform, that opened up so many doors for them. The five of them shuffled into their compartment, and they all collapsed into their rightful seats. Amaris kicked her feet up, resting them in Remus’ lap. Sirius shot her a knowing look, and she gave him a sneer in response. In the confines of their compartment, they were free to call each other their new names without raising suspicion, and they did so excitedly. “Hopefully the first full moon of the year we’ll be able to test our theory out, Moony,” Amaris said, a thousand watt grin on her features. 

“But then I won’t ever get a break from you, Vixen,” Remus responded, giving her leg an endearing squeeze.

Across the cabin, Sirius chuckled at them. “I can’t see you really being that upset about that.”

James nudged Sirius in the side playfully. “Maybe he’ll even get more fox kisses next year. I do believe that’s the most action he’s ever gotten. How does it feel Moony, the first girl to kiss you was a fox.” James comment had the pair flushing a bright pink.

“That doesn’t count,” Remus sputtered as Amaris shouted, “It wasn’t like that!” The compartment dissolved into laughter, and finally, Amaris and Remus joined in with them. 


	5. Year Five part One - Full Moons and Mischief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I was hoping to keep year to a single chapter, but these stories always seem to run away from me as I'm writing them, and their fifth year wound up at 12000 words, so I'm splitting it between two chapters.

For the first time since they started school, Amaris and Sirius were the first two in their compartment. They fell into their seats across from each other and released a sigh of relief. Their three months of hell were finally over, and once their bruises and wounds healed, they could pretend like it never happened. “Only one summer left,” Amaris commented, shifting her arm painfully. She’d dislocated her shoulder the day before when she’d received _special attention_ from Walburga. Sirius had done his best to help her get it back into place, but it was definitely going to be sore for a while. 

Sirius gave her a sad smile. “Then we never have to see any of them again.” Relieved, Amaris leaned back against the seat, hissing in pain when she jostled her bruised ribs. “You should really get those checked out when we get to the castle.” 

Amaris gave him a deadpan look. “You’re one to talk. I’m almost positive yours are broken, and your hand doesn’t seem any better off.” Shrugging, Sirius raised his left hand that was still horribly swollen. He gave Amaris a lopsided grin, and the sound of the door sliding open had both of their heads snapping toward Remus who stood in the doorway, staring wildly at the twins. 

Shutting the door behind him, he took in their appearances. “You two look like shit,” he muttered, making his way to sit beside Amaris. Amaris shrugged before wincing in pain. “What happened this time?” 

A sly look settled on Sirius’ battered features. “Vixen and Padfoot kept escaping all summer. Nobody could seem to keep a handle on those two. Sneaky little pups they are. Mother took notice of our disappearances and tried to remind us _how to properly behave._” 

“I’m taking you both to see Madam Pomfrey when we get to the castle.” Remus gave them both a look that silenced any arguments the pair were conjuring. Dejectedly, they agreed. Soon, both Peter and James filed into their compartment, and Peter was all but bouncing with excitement. 

Happy to deter any further questions about their summer, Amaris peered around Remus at the boy. “And just what are you so happy about Peter?”

He beamed at all of them. “I did it!” Everyone congratulated him. They’d all forgotten Peter had been given the ability to try the transformation at home. The mood in the compartment drastically shifted when they realized just what that meant.

Ignoring the twinge in her shoulder, Amaris threw her arms around Remus, pulling him into a tight hug. “It looks like Moony won’t be alone this year.”

Knowing there was absolutely no way to stop his friends now, Remus just said, “Promise me that until we know you’re all relatively safe, you’ll be careful around me.” 

They all gave their word to Remus, and James glanced excitedly back to Peter. “So, what are you?”

“I’ll just show you all later in the dorm!” Peter gloated. He was so proud of himself that he’d finally managed to make the transformation. When Amaris had completed it and he was the only one left, Peter was worried he’d never make it. 

Smiling, Amaris faced all of her friends that were now more like a family to her than she’d ever known. “This year will definitely be the best we’ve had yet. Think of everything we can do now!” Everyone fell into excited chatter about their plans for the year now that they’ve all become Animagus.

When the train began to slow, they all filed out of the compartment and made their way to the school. As they entered the castle, Remus grabbed Amaris and Sirius by their collars before they could dash away from him into the Great Hall. James and Peter gave them an odd look. “I’m taking these two to go see Madam Pomfrey as they’re too stubborn to do it on their own.”

Solemnly, James and Peter nodded before James said, “Then we’re going with you.” His expression left no room for arguments, and the five of them made their way off to the hospital wing. After a few disgusting potions and healing spells, the twins were basically good as new. Remus had to leave before the feast was over with a mutter of having to take care of something, and he disappeared before any of them could question him. Madam Pomfrey cleared them to leave that night, and together, the four of them made their way back to Gryffindor tower, excited to see what Peter’s Animagus form was. 

They filed through the portrait hole, and James came to an abrupt halt, causing the rest of them to stumble over him. “What the hell, Potter?” Amaris asked, removing herself from Peter. James said nothing, but merely pointed in the direction of a herd of first years. Rolling her eyes, Amaris sighed. “Yes James, those are new students. We get those every year . . .” Amaris trailed off realizing just who was standing in front of them all, wearing a shiny Prefect badge. The four of them stared at Remus blankly before four identical smirks adorned their features. Together, they sauntered over to where Remus was answering some question a small red-haired boy had asked. 

Amaris flopped down onto the couch nearest to the group and grinned widely at Remus. He shot her a quick warning to remain quiet as he continued his welcoming speech. Beside Amaris, James and Peter sat down while Sirius, as usual, sat on top of Amaris. The twins began bickering and Amaris shoved Sirius off her form which resulted in a wrestling match. Remus pinched the bridge of his nose before addressing the new students who were now watching the twins with wide eyes. “Don’t mind them. You’ll come to realize this happens often, and such activities are generally frowned upon here.” By the end of his sentence, Remus’ voice had grown loud enough to catch the twins’ attention. The pair paused what they were doing, and with Amaris still trapped in a headlock, they beamed happily at Remus, completely ignoring his comment and returning to their fight. 

Shaking his head, Remus ushered the new students from the common room and showed them their dorms. Back downstairs, Amaris had finally tapped out, and Sirius stood victoriously before her. “When will you learn you’ll never beat me in a fight?” Sirius taunted her as he glanced to where Remus was no longer standing. “Looks like he’s finally done. Come on, we still need to see Peter’s new trick.” Excitedly, they all rushed upstairs and met Remus as he was halfway down the stairs. Amaris quickly grabbed his hand and tugged him along with her as they entered the boys’ room. 

Inside, Peter stood in the center of them, and he was soon replaced by a small rat. Amaris’ face lit up with pure mischievous excitement. “Oh this is great! You’ll be able to get out of the castle like that any time you want! Way less conspicuous than a giant stag running around.” Peter transformed back into himself and beamed happily at his friends. 

“Whatever Amaris,” James sneered at her. “Not like I can help it. But nevermind that, what do we call Peter?” The five of them thought on it for a minute before James called, “Wormtail!” 

~

It was the first full moon of the school year, and everyone but Remus was filled with a form of nervous excitement. Secretly, Remus was almost dreading having his friends with him to witness his change, but he wasn’t going to stop them as there was no way he could. They’d all promised him they’d change as soon as they were out of view of the castle as a precaution. That’s how he’d wound up in his current situation. Peter sat on his shoulder, James trotted along beside him, and Amaris and Sirius were chasing each other in circles around the trio. To an outsider, this would have to be the weirdest sight they could ever stumble across. 

When they finally reached the Whomping Willow, Amaris and Sirius calmed and made their way back to Remus. With a forlorn sigh, Remus placed Peter on the ground so he could sneak his way to the knot on the tree undetected as they'd talked about earlier. As they waited, Remus was standing between a stag and a black dog while a small fox wound its way around his leg, trying its best to soothe him. As soon as Peter had stilled the willow, Remus started forward, and the three animals trailed along behind him. Once the four of them disappeared into the base of the tree, Peter rushed in after them. 

The four Animagus did as Remus had asked and stayed out of the room he was in until he was done transforming. To be honest, as soon as they’d begun hearing Remus’ pained wails, none of them wanted to bear witness to his change. Amaris shied away from the screams, tucking herself against her brother’s side with her ears tucked flat against her skull. Peter disappeared from view as he tried to escape the cries as well. After what seemed like ages, Remus fell silent. Amaris was the first to cautiously approach the door that they’d left cracked open slightly. Keeping a low profile, she slinked into the room that was now occupied by a large, grey furred wolf. The other three trailed in after her. 

As she approached, the wolf watched her with large, yellow eyes. A nudge on her back half startled Amaris, and she whirled around to see Sirius motioning with his head for her to keep her distance until they knew they would be safe. Giving her head a shake, she turned back to Remus. Once again, keeping low to the ground, Amaris slowly padded her way over to him. She froze as the wolf lowered his large head, giving her a quick sniff. Every animal in the room aside from the wolf froze in fear, and Sirius and James readied themselves to pounce if needed. The wolf continued to check Amaris out curiously, and he gave her a quick prod in the side with his nose. Taking this as a positive sign, the fox slowly raised its head and gave the wolf a nudge back. 

The wolf pulled its head back in surprise before sitting on the floor, watching the fox intently. Deeming he wasn't a threat, Amaris let out a quiet, happy yip and, still under the wolf's watchful gaze, she trotted in front of him and laid on the ground. Curiously, Remus mimicked her movements and laid in front of her. The pair were nose to nose. Behind them, James, Peter, and Sirius slowly inched forward. They watched as Amaris rolled over onto her back, and the wolf raised its head before crawling forward slightly and plopping its head on top of Amaris. The fox let out an indignant sound and wriggled beneath the wolf. 

Finally, Sirius let out a short bark that would've been a chuckle. From where he lay on top of Amaris, Remus moved only his eyes toward Sirius. Knowing they weren't in immediate danger, the three finally neared Remus. Peter clamored his way up the wolf's back to rest between his shoulders and Sirius and James circled Remus once before Sirius let out a series of excited barks. From where she was still trapped, Amaris bopped Remus on the nose with one of her paws. With a huff, the wolf finally released the fox, and seconds later, she was running about the room happily with Sirius. It wasn't long before the wolf joined in their game of chase, and soon, even James and Peter played along. 

They carried on like this through the night, and on the occasion Remus became too rowdy with them, Sirius or James would put him back in check. The moon finally began to wane and disappear from the sky, and Remus began transforming back into a human. As he did, the four animals huddled in the corner, glancing away from Remus to give him a small semblance of privacy. When he was finally human once again, Remus smiled weakly at the four crammed in the corner. “Come on now, you four need to get back to the castle before classes start.” At the sound of his voice, both Sirius and Amaris rushed forward, almost tackling the exhausted teen. The pair were letting out excited barks as they jumped on Remus. Sighing happily, Remus scratched both of them once behind the ears and content, the pair dashed out of the shack with James and Peter hot on their heels. “Those four are really something else,” Remus muttered as he slowly followed them out of the shack.

~

The five Marauders stumbled into the boys’ room, quickly removing James’ invisibility cloak from themselves as to regain a little personal space. James moved to tuck it away into his trunk, and Amaris immediately crumpled to the floor, sprawling out across the cool stone. Following his twin’s lead, Sirius did the same, and soon, all of them were either seated or lying on the floor. “Is it just me, or does Filch seem to be everywhere at once recently?” Sirius asked, recalling the fives times they’d almost run straight into the man as they rounded a corner. 

“Definitely not just you,” Amaris commented. She shivered disgustedly, remembering just how close she’d stood to Filch at one point.

It was only as of late that Filch had been running amok. Usually, he just wandered the halls waiting to stumble across some poor student out of bed. Now, it seemed as though he was searching for something, or rather, someone in particular. “I’ve got a feeling someone ran and told him about us,” James accused.

Rolling his eyes, Remus asked, “And just who do you think did that?” Remus had a hunch that he already knew exactly who James was going to accuse.

“The only student in all of Hogwarts that pays special attention to us, of course,” James replied, sounding as though he was explaining something obvious. “_Snivellus.”_

Remus had been right, and he merely gave James an annoyed look. “How would he know about our nightly activities?” 

Sirius gave a disgusted look, craning his neck to look at Remus. “He’s always watching us like the creep he is. Any time we’re in a room with him, he’s got his beady eyes on us.” Sirius, James, and Amaris gave a shudder at the thought of Severus watching them like a hawk every moment of the day. 

“Surely he can’t know about what we do in our free time,” Remus stated blandly, trying to convince the four of them of something he barely believed himself.

None of them were going to humor Remus. “It’s Snape,” Amaris stated, venom lacing her tone. “I wouldn’t put it past him to use some freaky spell of his to hide himself, or just lurk in the shadows like the freak he is. I guarantee he hides outside the Gryffindor common room waiting for us or something.” The image of Snape hiding in the shadows outside the portrait had all five of them shuddering.

Sirius rubbed his chin idly, meeting each of his friends’ eyes. “Well, you know what this means then, right?” The four Gryffindors glanced at each other, terrified of what Sirius was going to say next. “We’re going to need something that can keep us from getting caught.” They were all pleasantly surprised that he hadn’t concocted some harebrained scheme yet.

“And how do you suppose we do that?” Remus asked curiously. It wasn’t a half bad idea, but he couldn’t see any way of making that possible. 

Surprisingly, Amaris was the one to answer for her brother who was lost in thought, surely coming up with a terrible plan. “I don’t know, but given enough time in the library, I’m sure that between you and I we can figure something out.” 

Everyone except Remus was excited. Amaris was, after all, the one who figured out the Animagus process. “Don’t you go volunteering me for anything,” Remus scolded the girl, giving her a hard look. 

Amaris pouted, giving the werewolf her best puppy dog eyes that she knew always worked on him. “C’mon Remus, it’ll be just like studying,” she pleaded. “If we figure this out, it could keep you from having to pretend to scold us all the time as we could stay out of more trouble with less chances of being caught.” 

The teen mulled over her words for a moment. His face was an unreadable mask, and everyone waited with bated breath as they awaited his answer. “Fine,” Remus finally gave in, and his four friends let out a series of cheers. 

Amaris and Remus sat in the back of the library. Both were bent over different books, and Amaris was suffering from flashbacks of the months she’d spent doing the same thing with Sirius in their second year. “Have you found anything yet?” Amaris asked quietly, glancing up at Remus from her book. She rubbed her temples idly, trying to soothe the headache that was slowly forming. “I feel like my head is going to explode if I have to read another spell.” 

Remus merely continued reading, but responded, “Maybe.” He pursed his lips, his eyes scanning over the finely printed words. “I don’t know how we could use it though.” Amaris scooted closer to Remus, peering down at the book he was reading. “It’s the homonculous charm,” Remus explained, pointing to the paragraph he was on. “It allows an object to track the movements of people, but I just don’t know what we could enchant with it.”

Amaris looked away from the passage, staring off into the distance as she began forming an idea. “Well, what if we made a map of the school?” she offered, peering sheepishly at Remus, worried he'd call her idea ridiculous. 

His green eyes widened with excitement. “Then, if we applied the charm, we might be able to see everyone’s location in the castle. That’s brilliant.” Remus began jotting down notes on how to perform the charm properly. When he’d gotten everything he needed, the pair closed their books and triumphantly strolled out of the library.

Remus and Amaris wound their way through the halls, chattering idly about how they were going to make the map. With the help of James, Sirius, and Peter, and their nightly excursions, they would have more than enough knowledge of the castle to create one. 

Now, the five of them were bent over a complete map of Hogwarts that was resting on the stone floor of the boys’ room. It was two in the morning on a Saturday, and finally, they were ready to try the enchantment. Remus produced his notes and pulled out his wand. Reading over everything he would need to do, he carefully began the enchantment as the remaining four watched him intently. When he was done, the map looked exactly the same as it had. 

“Did it work?” James asked, scanning the map. Remus shook his head glumly. He’d messed up something, so warily, he performed the enchantment once again. There were five awed gasps as Remus finished the charm, and this time, names began appearing on the parchment. 

Immediately, they all bent forward, carefully inspecting the map. Amaris could see Lily’s name in their room, and she quickly found Filch stalking the halls. “Well, it worked, but if we’re caught with this . . .” Remus trailed off, worried about being caught with such a map. “I don’t even want to think of what would happen to us. We need to hide its contents somehow.”

Amaris quickly perked up, her steely eyes aglow with joy. “I read about a few repelling charms earlier. I can see if that’ll work.” She scooped the map from the floor, folding it carefully. “It’ll hide its contents and only reveal them to those who know how to work it. Of course, we’ll have to add our own touch to it though.” She gave them all a mischievous smirk, producing her wand and holding it inches from the parchment. 

Across from her, Sirius grinned madly. “Can we make it insult people?” he asked slyly. 

James let out a quick laugh. “Oh, that’s perfect,” he commended. “Just in case it ever gets taken. I’d love to see the look on someone’s face if that happens.” They were all silent, surely thinking of what the map would reveal to Filch or even Snape if they managed to get a hold of it. 

Happily, Amaris began the repelling charm. Halfway through, she paused, glancing around at the four Gryffindors. “What should we make the password?”

Immediately, Sirius offered, “Sirius Black is the greatest wizard of all time.” He gave a mock pout when he saw the incredulous looks on everyone’s faces. “C’mon, nobody would ever guess that.”

“You’re right because it couldn’t be further from the truth,” Amaris chided, shaking her head at her brother. 

A sly grin took up residence on James’ features. “How about Snivellus is a right git?” 

“I like it,” Amaris stated, moving her wand closer to the parchment once again.

Quickly, Remus stopped her with a simple, “Amaris, no.” 

Amaris gave him a deep pout. “But why?” The password James had offered was absolutely perfect. 

Remus didn’t answer her, but instead offered, “What about, I am up to no good? No good can come out of you four having your hands on this.” He gestured toward the map. 

They were all silent for a moment before Amaris spoke up. “_I solemnly swear that _I am up to no good. You gotta seal the deal Remus.” With a small smile, Amaris repeated the password, tapping her wand on the parchment. Amaris went on finishing the enchantment. With a tap of her wand and a simple utter of “Mischief managed,” the map disappeared. Grinning, Amaris held the map out to Remus. “Try to read it without the password.”

Cautiously, Remus pulled the map from her grasp. He pointed his wand at the parchment and said, “Revelio.” His eyes widened as red script began forming on the paper in his hand. As it formed, he read it aloud. “Messrs and Mses Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs, and Vixen applaud Mr. Lupin for finding this. Mr. Moony would like to note that with your intelligence, you should’ve remembered the password." Remus' voice had trailed off slightly, he felt rightfully insulted by himself already, and curiously, he continued on. "Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony and would like to add that Mr. Lupin should learn to have fun. Mr. Padfoot wishes to convey to Mr. Lupin that he snores loudly enough to wake the dead on occasion. Mr. Wormtail believes Mr. Lupin should quit yelling at his friends so often. Ms. Vixen wishes Mr. Lupin a good night and has nothing horrible to say like those other fools.” Remus finished reading the crude insults and met each of his friends’ sheepish stares. “Well, I’d say it works. I’d like to add that you all are jerks, except you.” Remus locked eyes with Amaris’ wide, grey orbs. “Why didn’t you insult me? Is the charm broken?”

Quickly, she glanced away, her cheeks sporting a light pink tinge. “No, no. It works fine. I just, y’know, would never insult my best friend.” Her excuse was weak, and she knew it. 

Across from her, Sirius scoffed. “It’s because she lov-” 

From where she sat, still holding her wand, Amaris quickly hexed her brother into silence. Embarrassed, she offered Remus a small smile. “Loves having you as a friend and would never do anything to jeopardize that.”

~

The Marauders lounged on the lawn in their usual spot beneath their tree. James and Sirius had their heads together and were whispering hurriedly about something. Peter was sprawled out in the grass, staring up at the sky. Remus had his back propped against the trunk of the tree, a book resting in his hands. Amaris, as usual, had her head in his lap as she lounged on the lawn. They’d been like this since classes had let out for the day, and nobody had any plans to return to the castle any time soon. 

A little while later, James and Sirius glanced up and noticed a familiar lanky form approaching them. James nudged Sirius in the side, smirking. “Look who it is. Come back for another round, have you Snivellus?” As soon as Amaris heard the boy’s name, she shot up from where she was drifting off to sleep in Remus’ lap. He hadn’t been expecting the sudden movement, and Amaris slammed her face into the cover of his book that had hovered inches above her. 

Groaning, she rubbed her head and watched as Severus approached their group. Snape wasted no time in producing his wand and pointing it directly at James. “You think you can just hex anyone you please, don’t you?”

Three of the five Marauders were now on their feet, yanking their wands out of their robes. “Severus, lower your wand. It’s three on one. You’re a bit outnumbered,” Amaris said easily, gesturing at him with her wand. 

Snape gave the girl a dark glare. “Can’t do anything without having back up. You’re so weak, Potter.” There was a flash of light that came from James’ wand, and Snape was sent tumbling backward. As he fell, the trio could see Snape’s wand fall from his grasp. The three Marauders began laughing, and from behind them, they heard Remus’ weak reprimanding tone telling them to knock it off. 

Ignoring him, James continued on. “Weak? Do you see either of them doing this to you? I didn’t think so _Snivellus.”_ He used the Impediment jinx on Snape again as he tried to stand up.

Severus began letting out a string of curses and insults that were aimed at James. Amaris cocked her head to the side, aiming her wand at Severus. “Now, now, those aren’t very nice thing’s you’re saying.” With a wicked grin, Amaris used Scourgify on him. “We best wash that filthy mouth of yours out.” Pink suds began falling out of Snape’s mouth. He choked and sputtered, trying to get rid of the suds that seemed to have no end. 

“Leave him alone!” a familiar voice sliced through their howls of laughter. Lily stormed up to the trio, and stood between them and Snape. Hands firmly placed on her hips, she glowered at each and every one of them before settling her gaze on James. “You think you’re just so funny. Always hexing people and whatnot, but you’re just a pompous, arrogant bully, Potter.” She turned to face Amaris. “And you’re no better than he is.” She moved to brush past James.

As soon as Lily was hidden safely behind James, Severus aimed his wand haphazardly toward the boy and shouted a spell nobody recognized. James let out a cry of pain, and his hand flew to his cheek. When he removed it, there was a thin slash marring his flesh that blood began to trickle out of. “Why you little,” James aimed his wand directly at Snape, and with a flash of green, Snape was hoisted off the ground by an invisible force. 

As he hung upside down, Snape’s robes slid up his legs, revealing his greyed, grimy underwear. The twins burst out into uncontrollable laughter. Lily had already rounded back on James and was demanding he release Severus. Before anyone could do a thing, Snape shouted, “I don’t need help from a filthy mudblood like you!”

This was it, the moment Amaris had always warned Lily about. Something inside her snapped, and she stormed over to where Snape was still dangling by his ankle. She pressed her wand against his forehead, and leaned in close. “Listen here, _snake_. If I ever heard you use that word again, I promise it will be the last.” Amaris’ features were dark with anger. With a growl, Severus spat directly in her face. Disgusted, Amaris drew a hand down her face to clear it. 

“’Maris, let it go,” Sirius called out from behind her. “Don’t do something stupid.”

Amaris continued to glare at Severus. “I’ll get you for that. I promise.” She took a single step back and simply used Scourgify on him again. Amaris wasn’t stupid enough to use anything worse than that when there were so many witnesses around. Once again, Snape choked on the suds, and Amaris smirked wickedly. “Better watch your back, _Snivellus.” _Finally, satisfied, Amaris spun on her heel and began making her way back James and Sirius. From behind her, she heard a thump as James finally released his hold on the teen. 

As soon as Snape righted himself, time seemed to slow. Amaris could hear James and Sirius shouting her name and pointing their wands at Severus. It was too late. In the time it took them to shout _Expelliarmus_, Snape had already used his curse against Amaris. Snape’s wand went flying, and everyone watched as Amaris’ eyes went wide with confusion and pain. She stumbled for a second, not realizing what was going on. Her left hand flew to her right shoulder blade and she felt the sticky wetness of blood seeping through her robes already.

Amaris’ face morphed into something else entirely as rage overcame her. Ignoring the searing pain that shot through her with every movement, she turned to face Severus. Before she could even take a single step toward him, Sirius had his arms around her waist and was dragging Amaris away from him. “I’ll kill you, snake!” she bellowed. “Mark my words, you’ll pay for this.” Not wanting to cause any more of a scene than they already had, Sirius placed a hand over his sister’s mouth and carried her over to where Remus and Peter were now standing under the tree. 

Setting Amaris carefully on the ground, Sirius glanced at her back. He carefully grabbed his sister’s hair and lifted it away from her neck. Just above the neckline of her robes, they could see the top of the cut Severus had inflicted on her. “We need to get her inside,” Sirius stated, already hoisting Amaris off the ground. He wrapped Amaris’ left arm around his shoulder, and beside him, Remus was already doing the same with her right. 

“We need to take her to Madam Pomfrey,” Peter called, his tone thick with worry. 

He was silenced by the look Remus was giving him. “And tell her what? They antagonized another student to the point he attacked? The four of them would be expelled.” Everyone fell silent, and the Marauders carefully carted Amaris inside. 


	6. Year Five part Two - Jealousy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe this story is almost done already. Chapter six is written, seven is half done and there's one chapter left after that before the next part begins. Also, as promised this chapter is full of feelings.

Once her feet hit the stone floor of the castle, Amaris began to fight against Sirius and Remus. “I can walk on my own,” she said weakly. “And anyway, we don’t need any more attention than we’ve already gotten.” Sirius and Remus held a silent conversation above Amaris’ head before they both released her. Sirius kept a hand on her good shoulder, and Remus let his hand rest lightly on the small of her back. The five of them made their way through the school like this until they reached Gryffindor tower. 

The common room was almost empty, and using this to his advantage, Sirius swept his twin off her feet and rushed up to the boy’s dorm with her. He kicked his bed away from the wall haphazardly and placed Amaris on it with her back facing the room. Amaris placed her hands flat against the wall to support herself. Behind them, the rest of the group quickly filed into the room. “’Maris, I’m going to need you to take off your robes,” Sirius said softly. “James, Peter. Go see if you can get your hands on any Dittany and something to wrap this with.”

The pair nodded before taking off. Sirius helped his sister shrug out of her robes. The two remaining were surprised to see that there wasn’t a single slice in her uniform. Sirius sighed heavily. “Sorry, Vix, but I’m going to have to lift your shirt.” 

Annoyed, Amaris glanced over her shoulder at him. “I don’t care what you have to do, just get it over with already.” Carefully, Sirius grabbed Amaris’ uniform and lifted it up, revealing her pale back. Sirius and Remus both let out a sharp gasp. From the base of her neck, a thin, deep gash trailed over her shoulder blade and stopped just under her arm. 

“Remus, hold this,” Sirius demanded. Remus’ hands replaced Sirius’ and held Amaris’ shirt away from the wound. Behind her, Amaris heard Sirius throwing his trunk open and rooting through it. Ripping free a piece of cloth and an old cauldron, he quickly threw the objects to the ground and used a spell to fill the cauldron with water. He made his way back over to his sister and used an old tee shirt to wipe away the blood. “You’re the smart one,” Sirius commented, glancing at Remus. “You wouldn’t happen to know any healing spells, would you?”

Remus shook his head. “I know of them, but I don’t trust myself to use any.” Sirius dipped the shirt he was using to clean his sister’s wound in the water and continued to wipe away the blood. He continued to do this, and the cut showed no signs of letting up. Frustrated, he placed the shirt against Amaris’ shoulder, holding it there. His twin hissed in pain and shied away from his touch, but Sirius placed a hand on her good shoulder and held her still. 

After what seemed like ages, James and Peter finally returned. “We had to sneak into the dungeons to get this from Slughorn’s personal stash. Luckily, there was some in the storeroom.” James handed the phial to Sirius and moved to put his cloak away. 

As Sirius pulled the blood-soaked shirt away from Amaris’ back, a fresh wave of pain rolled over her, and she let out a groan. Tossing the garment to the floor, Sirius quickly applied the dittany to the wound. It didn’t immediately seal up like it should have, but the flow of blood seemed to slow quite a bit. “Why isn’t this working?” Sirius muttered, grabbing the shirt to once again dab at the wound.

A loud, frantic pounding on the door startled them. Was that McGonagall coming to expel all of them? With a gulp, James worriedly made his way to the door. Before he could open it, Lily’s voice rang out through the thick wood. “Open the door. I know you’re all in there!” Quickly, James opened the door and yanked Lily into the room before slamming the door shut behind her. He rushed back to Amaris’ side, leaving Lily standing alone with wide eyes as she took in Sirius’ blood covered hands and Amaris’ uncovered back. “Severus did this, didn’t he?” she muttered, slowly making her way over to Sirius’ bed. 

“Nah, did it to myself ‘cause I thought it’d be fun,” Amaris said through clenched teeth. “You were close with him, any idea just what the hell he did to me?” She let out another hiss of pain as Sirius swept the shirt over her wound again. 

Lily shook her head, averting her eyes from the twins and looking helplessly at James. “I did see into his book one day, and the spell he’d used earlier was written in there. The only thing it said was _for enemies._ I don’t know any more than that.”

From where he stood, still holding Amaris’ shirt, Remus stared at Lily. “What was the spell?”

Lily shifted uncomfortably for a moment before uttering, “Sectumsempra.” 

The gears in Remus’ head began turning as he mulled over the words. Soon, his features darkened, and from where Sirius was bent over beneath the teen’s reach, he glanced up at Remus. “Your expression tells me it can’t be good,” he commented.

“Well, assuming it’s Latin, sectum means cut, and sempra means always.” There was a thick silence as Remus’ words sank in. 

Amaris was of course the one to break the quiet. “So, what you’re telling me is that I’m going to have a bleeding gash for the rest of my life until I inevitably bleed out?” She paused for a moment before shouting, “Hell no! Snivellus is _not_ going to be the reason I die. When I go out, it’s going to be in style, not from some wannabe Death Eater!”

If his sister wasn’t still wounded, Sirius would’ve smacked her. “You’re not going to die, ‘Maris. There has to be a way to reverse it right?” Still holding the cloth against his sister’s back, Sirius peered over at Lily. “Any chance you saw a reversal spell in that book of his?”

“I didn’t,” she said. “But I know how I can find out.” With that, Lily stormed out of the room, her robes billowing out around her small frame. The door slammed shut behind her, and the five of the Marauders just stared after her, bewildered. 

A small smirk spread across James’ lips. “Do you think she’s going to beat an answer out of him? If so, I want to watch.”

“You better take me with you, Potter!” Amaris called, flinching as Sirius applied a little more pressure to her back. “I’m gonna hex him so bad if I make it out of this alive. It will be so fantastic that our resident Prefect might even have to issue me a detention this time.” In the midst of their concern, it felt good to laugh at Amaris’ witty comments. 

About an hour later, the door flew open, and Lily trudged through. She quickly handed a piece of parchment to Remus before moving to flop onto the nearest bed, which was James’, with a loud groan. Remus glanced down at the two words scrawled on the page before looking back to Lily. She was laying on James’ bed with her arms over her face. “Just say that while tracing the wound with your wand. He said that should fix her,” Lily explained, her voice strained. 

Remus stood from where he’d sat beside a nearly shirtless Amaris. They’d all gotten tired of taking turns holding her shirt away from the still oozing wound. With a promise from all the males that they wouldn’t look, she’d pulled her shirt over her head, with a little help from Sirius, and covered her chest with the cloth. Shakily, Remus removed his wand from his robes as James moved over to sit on his bed by Lily’s feet. “How did you get that from Snape?” James asked, wild curiosity apparent in his tone. 

Remus listened offhandedly as he did exactly as Lily had told him. “I tried asking nicely, and when that didn’t work, I may have threatened to go to Dumbledore about the fact that he’s creating curses that can kill.” Beneath the tip of his wand, Remus watched in awe as the wound on Amaris’ back began to knit itself back together. “I don’t think he liked the idea of a prison sentence in Azkaban if Amaris died.” 

“It’d be worse than time in Azkaban for him,” Amaris stated, trying to distract herself from the tingling feeling spreading across her back. “I would’ve come back just to haunt his ass.” 

When there was no more blood spilling from the cut, Remus pulled his wand away for a moment and used Tergeo to clean off the remnants of blood that remained on her skin. To his astonishment, the spell had worked. There was a thin white scar that had taken the place of the nasty slice. His fingers trailed over the new skin, and Amaris shivered at his touch. Quickly, he removed his hand, and Amaris gave a pout that nobody could see. “It worked,” Remus breathed, still not believing what he was seeing. “There’s still a scar though, but with the Dittany we have left-”

Before Remus could finish, Amaris spun around. She met his stunned gaze with a dark one of her own. “Leave it. I want to be able to remember just why I hate anyone who practices the Dark Arts.” With that, Amaris moved to stand and put her shirt back on, but by this point, the blood had dried on it, leaving her shirt ruined. She gave it a disgusted look, and in a flash, Sirius was rooting through his trunk again. Grabbing one of his old tee shirts, he threw it to Amaris. Gratefully, she turned her back to the boys and shed her soiled uniform before throwing on Sirius’ shirt. She rolled out her shoulder, testing the new skin that had formed on her back, and when she didn’t feel the familiar trickle of blood, she faced her friends. “Thanks for not letting me bleed out,” she said, beaming at Sirius and Remus.

Remus’ cheeks were flushed a bright pink, and he quickly looked away from Amaris, unwilling to meet her stare. Sirius merely shook his head at her before saying, “Like I’d let you leave me to face mother by myself this summer. I can’t do that alone. Besides, who else would support my fantastic ideas if you were gone?” Around them, everyone groaned. Nobody thought his ideas were that great aside from Amaris, and occasionally James. 

With a bright smile, Amaris finally stepped forward and pulled her brother and Remus into a tight hug. “You guys are the best.” Releasing them, Amaris faced James and Peter. “I guess you two are pretty alright too. You did steal from a Professor for me.” The pair grinned at her. “And you Lily. I’ve never been so proud of you. Threatening someone for information. Never thought I’d see the day that happened.”

Lily rolled her eyes at her friend. “I couldn’t let something bad happen to you. I’d never hear the end of it from these four if I did.” The room dissolved into laughter, and everything returned to its rightful state.

~

Amaris loitered outside the potions room with James and Sirius before class was about to start. Her wand was stashed up her sleeve, as was Sirius and James’. They were chatting idly as they watched the halls for any sign of their favorite target. A few minutes before they were about to officially be late for class, Snape came stalking down the hall, completely alone. His nose was buried in a book, so he had yet to notice the three watching him like predators. Letting her wand slip into her hand, Amaris quickly cast the trip jinx, and moments later, Snape went tumbling to the ground. His book flew from his grasp and slid across the floor, coming to a stop in front of Amaris’ feet. Glancing up at the trio, Snape’s expression soured more than its usual bitter look. Amaris kicked his book back to him, and it hit Snape in the jaw. “Careful Snivellus, you never know when the ground will just _reach up and trip you,” _Amaris said coldly. 

Stepping forward, Amaris crouched in front of Snape, well out of arm’s reach, and behind her, James and Sirius had their wands ready in case they needed to disarm Snape. They were remaining back, letting Amaris take the reigns this time as it was her chance for revenge after the incident. “You don’t think that just because you told Lily how to fix me we’re even, do you? We’re far from it. You wouldn’t have done so had you not been trying to save your own skin. Disgusting.” Righting herself, Amaris stood over Severus and smiled maliciously. Pointing her wand at Snape, she said, “Multicorfors,” and in a flash, Snape’s robes changed to a vibrant shade of hot pink. Laughing, the three of them disappeared into the classroom, leaving Snape to collect himself and follow them through. 

Upon entering, Slughorn took in the appearance of the four students. “You’re all late,” Slughorn stated. “You three I expect that out of but, you, Severus . . . oh my.” Slughorn’s eyes went wide as Snape separated himself from the three Gryffindors. The entire class burst into laughter, and Slughorn tried to quiet them all down to no avail. “Severus, just what happened to your robes?” Beside Amaris, Remus gave the trio a pointed look. 

In the back of the class, Snape slid into his seat and merely offered up an excuse of, “Transfiguration mishap.” Nodding, Slughorn went about with his lesson for the day. Unbeknownst to their teacher, the four students that had arrived late were already plotting their next moves. 

By the end of the day, Amaris’ arm was in a sling, Sirius had lost the ability to use his fingers, and James was temporarily blinded. Snape was much worse off as he was not only covered in boils, but he had leeks sprouting from his ears, and couldn’t form a coherent sentence due to one of the twins using the Jelly-Brain jinx on him. They had all been sent to the hospital wing by Professor McGonagall, and Madam Pomfrey was currently flitting around the room tending to each of the students. Remus stood in front of the three Gryffindors that were lying in cots, an annoyed expression plastered across his features. “I hope the three weeks of detention was worth it,” he muttered, shaking his head in disappointment at the three of them. 

Sirius smirked at the werewolf. “Totally was.”

Beside him, Amaris began chuckling, but winced in pain when it jostled her mending ribs. She’d been thrown into a table when Snape had used Flipendo against her, causing her to fracture a few ribs and break her arm. “I’d do it all over again, and to be honest, I probably will.” 

Remus let out an exasperated sigh, shaking his head. “What am I going to do with you three?”

~

It was early evening on Saturday night. The Gryffindor house was alight with excitement over the quidditch match against Slytherin that was earlier that day. Gryffindor had slaughtered them on the field, and now they had every intention of celebrating late into the night. The common room was quickly being transformed into a room fit for a party. Amaris flitted around, whisking couches out of the way and stringing streamers from the ceiling. Someone had managed to commandeer a gramophone for the evening, and it was now placed in the corner of the common room. As everything began falling into place, Amaris stood back for a moment, taking in the room outfitted with anything red and gold the students could get their hands on. One of the seventh year students placed a record on the gramophone, and music began filling the room. 

They let out a cheer, and with that, the party began. Excitedly, Amaris rushed up the stairs to drag the Marauders downstairs to join in the festivities. Flinging the door open, she saw the four of them standing in the center of the room, glasses full of a dark liquid raised slightly. Upon her appearance, the boys turned to face her. Sirius quickly rushed over and shut the door behind Amaris as he ushered her over toward the group. He handed her his glass, and Amaris gave it a quick sniff, identifying the mystery liquid as Firewhiskey. Eyebrows raised, she gave the boys a knowing look. Each and every one of them matched her glance with a lopsided grin of their own. Sirius made his way back over to the group with a new glass in his hand. 

Raising his glass back in the air, he proudly said, “To the best friends I’ve ever had. You all are more of a family to me than I’ve ever known. Here’s to many more years to come.” With that, the rest of the group raised their glasses with a cheer, and they all drank to that beautiful toast. Amaris, James, and Sirius drained their glasses quickly, and Amaris moved over to Sirius’ bed where the bottle of Firewhiskey lay. 

Quickly pouring herself another glass, she sauntered back over to the Marauders. “Come on now, we can’t have a right party without the star of the show.” Amaris fixed James with an amused glance, taking a sip of her drink. “Maybe you’ll get lucky with Evans tonight if you play your cards right. For some reason, she thinks you’re pretty attractive Potter.”

James sighed, rolling his eyes. Amaris had taken to teasing him about Lily recently. “Yeah right, Vix. I know you’re just saying that like always.”

Amaris feigned offense. “No, really. She’s been talking nonstop about you recently. Can’t get her to shut up about it.” The other three males awkwardly drank from their glasses, not knowing if Amaris was being truthful or not this time. Sure, they’d all noticed the way Lily looks at James differently these days, but to talk to Amaris about it?

James was overflowing with disbelief. “Then why hasn’t she made a move yet? I’ve made it pretty obvious I fancy her.” That was definitely the truth. If what he had done in the years prior was considered flirting, the Marauders weren’t sure about what to call his new, improved tactics.

“She just needs the right motivation James. Stick with me, and I promise it’ll all work out for you.” With a smirk, Amaris drained her glass and spun on her heel to leave the room to change into her dress for the night. 

Before the door shut behind her, she could hear James muttering, “Why don’t I like the sound of that?” Chuckling to herself, Amaris made her way down the stairs and passed through the common room which held the now raging party. Excited to be a part of the crowd swaying to the music, she rushed upstairs to change. Bursting through the door, she startled Lily who was currently lounging on her bed. 

Amaris fixed her friend with a stern look as she pulled her black dress off her bed. “Oh no, you are not staying up here moping all night. You’re coming downstairs to dance the night away and mingle with a certain Seeker.” Lily made no move to get off her bed, Amaris made her way over and yanked Lily off the mattress. She rifled through her trunk before producing a modest light blue dress. Grinning, Amaris pressed it into Lily’s grasp before slipping into her own, way more revealing black dress. Quickly glancing in the handheld mirror she’d laid out earlier, Amaris fixed her slightly smudged make up before facing Lily. “Go on, get changed. You’re coming with me whether you like it or not.” 

With a sigh, Lily changed into the dress, and in a flash, Amaris grabbed her arm and dragged her down the stairs into the common room. They were quickly overcome with the sound of the blasting music, and Amaris spotted James, Peter, and Remus sitting at one of the tables that had been set up earlier. Amaris continued dragging Lily along behind her, and as they approached, both James and Remus’ eyes went wide as they noticed the girls. “You might want to pick your jaw up off the floor James; it’s not an attractive look!” Amaris called over the music, laughing as she nudged Lily toward the male. Swaying slightly to the music, Amaris made her way over to where they’d stashed the butterbeers and grabbed two.

She wove her way through the students, and as soon as she reached the table her friends were at, Amaris handed a drink to Lily and sat down beside Remus. Remus awkwardly looked away from Amaris as he was sure she’d noticed him trying to sneakily check her out earlier. If she had, Amaris paid no mind to it and pulled him into mindless conversation. 

It was well into the night now, and Amaris had sneaked up to her brother’s room to sneak a few more glasses of Firewhiskey when nobody was paying attention. She was feeling bold at this point, and her favorite song by the Weird Sisters blared through the room. With a happy squeal, she bolted out of her chair and faced the four of them that still remained in their chairs. Peter and Remus had no intention of moving to the dance floor, and James remained by Lily’s side, trying his best to get her to notice him. Cracking a grin, Amaris grabbed James’ hands and began pulling him toward the dance floor. “Dance with me James!” Amaris called over the loud music. “Remus is being a bore and won’t leave his chair!”

Bewildered, James let himself be dragged onto the dance floor. “What are you doing Amaris?” The girl was now swaying to the music, her hands still grasping James’.

Amaris leaned in close to the male. “Just follow my lead Potter.” She inched a little closer to James, their bodies now swaying together. “Tell me, is Lily looking over here?”

Quickly, James peered over Amaris’ shoulder at their table. Sure enough, Lily was intently watching the pair, an unreadable expression on her face. “Uh, yeah, she is.”

“Good. That means it’s working.” Amaris grinned. She wound her arms around James’ neck, and the teen awkwardly placed his hands on her waist. “Does she look annoyed?”

From where she sat, Lily’s face twisted with jealousy and annoyance as she watched the pair dancing too close for comfort. “Slightly.”

Amaris scoffed loudly. “That won’t do.” An idea formed in her mind, and she wasn’t exactly happy about it, but she’d be damned if she didn’t get those two together that night. It also didn’t help that she was definitely drunk at this point. “Don’t smack me James, but I’m going to kiss you.” Amaris laughed heartily at the bewildered expression James was giving her. “Trust me, I want this way less than you do, but you gotta roll with it if you want Lily to finally make a move on you.” With her eyes scrunched shut, Amaris thought of the boy she’d rather be doing this with and gave James a quick peck on the lips.

From where she’d been watching the pair intently, Lily suddenly rose from her chair and moved deftly across the dance floor. There was a tap on Amaris’ shoulder, and the girl turned to face Lily who was giving her a sour look. “Mind if I cut in?” Lily asked, even though it sounded more like a demand.

Amaris quickly relinquished her hold on James and shot him a quick wink. Turning back to Lily, she said, “No, no, he’s all yours. You two have fun!” Amaris danced her way back to the table, slipping easily between the dancing bodies of her housemates. When she reached the table, Amaris was surprised to only see Peter sitting there. Worriedly, she questioned him, “Peter, where’s Remus?”

Peter gave her a half-hearted shrug. “I think he went upstairs.”

Shaking her head, Amaris made her way across the room once again and disappeared up the stairs that led to the boy’s dorms. The sounds of the party faded slightly as she neared the familiar door. Slipping inside, she immediately spotted Remus sitting on his bed. Quirking an eyebrow at him, Amaris grabbed one of the discarded glasses from earlier and poured herself a small shot before moving to stand before Remus. “And just what do you think you’re doing? Dipping out of an amazing party like that early.”

Remus refused to look at her, instead focusing on his hands that held his own glass of alcohol. “Just needed a break. Shouldn’t you be downstairs with James?” His tone held a hint of something Amaris couldn’t quite identify.

With an odd look, Amaris said, “Potter? Nah, I think he’s going to be rather busy for the rest of the night with Lily. About time, I say.” 

Finally, Remus looked up at her, his green eyes swirling with emotion. “Lily?” His eyes narrowed dangerously. “You two sure looked like you were getting along rather well as you kissed him.”

Amaris was taken aback slightly. Shaking her head, she gave him an apologetic look. “Remus, you don’t think I actually meant that, do you?”

“It definitely looked like it.”

Amaris sighed before finally taking the shot she’d poured herself. “Remus, kissing James was like kissing my brother.” Amaris gave a small, disgusted shiver at the thought. “I don’t care for him that way.”

Remus looked thoroughly confused at this point. “Then why would you? It doesn’t make any sense.”

Shifting uncomfortably, Amaris mulled over exactly what to say. She truly hadn’t expected that Remus would react like this. Sure, they’d had moments over the last few years, but she thought he merely thought of her as a sister. Finally, Amaris tried to explain herself. “Well, I had to make it convincing if I was going to make Lily jealous enough to come steal him away from me. She merely needed a shove in the right direction. If someone didn’t step in, those two may never wind up together.” Remus didn’t look convinced, and slowly he stood. Afraid he was going to leave the room, Amaris continued on. “Moony. How can I put this in a way you’ll understand. Say you fancy a girl, and you know she may feel the same for you. Now, you see her with another guy. What would you do in that situation?”

Remus looked deep in thought for a moment. He mulled over what he’d wanted to do when he saw Amaris and James together. “I’d have to show that person how I really felt,” he said simply.

“Exactly.” Amaris gave him a small smile. Remus took a small step closer to her, and Amaris stood her ground, curious about what he was going to do.

With another step in her direction, Remus stated, “Well, I guess I should do just that.” Before Amaris could say another word, Remus closed the distance between the two of them. Amaris’ back was soon pressed against the wall, and quickly, she set her glass off to the side on someone’s bedside table. Finally, Remus’ lips were on hers. Their kiss was gentle at first, but Amaris wound her arms around Remus’ neck, pulling him closer to her. This action was the only confirmation that Remus needed to know that Amaris wanted this just as badly as he did. One of his hands moved to grab her waist, holding her body against his, and the other made its way into her long black curls. 

As Remus’ tongue ran across her bottom lip, Amaris parted hers, allowing Remus the access he’d wanted. It quickly turned into a battle for dominance as their tongues danced together. Remus could taste the Firewhiskey on Amaris’ tongue still, and he briefly wondered if he should stop as she was obviously drunk. Those thoughts were soon swept from his mind as a single, warm hand ghosted across the skin of his hip. Finally breaking the kiss, Remus pulled away and left a trail of small kisses along Amaris’ jaw as he moved down her neck. Amaris’ head leaned to the side, giving Remus better access to her neck as she let out small noises of pleasure that only spurred the werewolf on further. 

The hand that was still around Remus’ neck slid up into his sandy hair, and Amaris threaded her fingers through it lightly. Remus’ name passed quietly past her lips as he nipped and sucked at the crook of her neck, leaving a small bruise there. Content he’d left his mark, Remus began making his way back up to Amaris’ lips. He finally removed his hand from her hair, and it trailed its way down her body, stopping just beneath the fabric of her dress. 

Neither of them had heard the door open, and at the sound of Sirius’ voice, they pulled away from each other slightly, both overcome with embarrassment. “Oh, sorry James,” Sirius said quickly, not realizing who the pair was at first. After a long moment, it dawned on him. “Merlin’s beard! As much as I didn’t need to see that, I’m glad you two finally decided to accept your feelings. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go see if someone can use Obliviate on me so I can forget I ever saw my sister getting it on with one of my best friends.” With that, Sirius grabbed the almost empty bottle of Firewhiskey and slipped out of the room. Before the door shut, the pair could hear Sirius calling for James and saying something about owning him a Galleon.

With a short laugh, Amaris smiled sweetly at Remus. “We should probably get back to the party before Sirius begins spreading wild rumors about us,” she said, knowing full well that her intoxicated brother would soon be telling their friends wild stories about what just happened.

The look on Remus’ face suggested he’d rather stay up here than go back downstairs, but instead, he agreed with Amaris. “Before we do though, is this . . . are we?” Remus didn’t know exactly how to voice what he wanted to say. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t find it in himself to ask Amaris to be his.

Cocking her head to the side, Amaris’ smile widened. She found it rather adorable as Remus tripped over his words. “Moony,” she began, standing on her toes to try and stand eye level with the tall werewolf, “Are you trying to ask me out?”

Remus flushed. His eyes darted around the room for a moment before settling back on Amaris’ grey depths. “I mean, yes? Unless it’s weird, then-”

Amaris cut him off with a quick kiss. “I’d love to be yours.” With one last peck to his cheek, Amaris grabbed Remus’ hand and together, they made their way back downstairs to the party.

~

It was now early spring, and the twins sat on Sirius’ bed late one night. Their heads were pressed together as they whispered animatedly about some prank they were coming up with. Remus was choosing to ignore them, and Peter and James slowly moved over to the pair when they were beckoned forward. The pair broke out laughing as Amaris and Sirius explained their plan to them. Across the room, Remus merely sighed and buried his nose further in his textbook. A little while later later, the four of them rose and made their way to leave the room. Finally, Remus let his book fall into his lap. “And just where are you all going at this time?” 

Sirius easily shrugged. “Late night run.”

“You know that I know that none of you are just going out for a late night run.” Remus shot them all an extremely pointed look. “If you were, you wouldn’t have been whispering on your bed as much as you have been for the last hour. You’re obviously up to something, and I feel it’s best that we just skip past the part where I try to tell you all that it’s a bad idea and that you shouldn’t do it. Just don’t do anything too stupid.”

Amaris gave Remus a wounded look as she said, “Come on Moony, do you truly believe we’re about to do something that could land the four of us in trouble?” Remus shot them his signature, _you can’t fool me as I know you’re about to spend a week in detention,_ look. The four of them broke out into laughter which only solidified Remus’ suspicions, and they bolted from the room before he could try and stop them. 

As soon as they were out of view, three of them transformed and Amaris hooked the bag around James’ antlers before transforming into a fox. Excitedly, they made their way toward the hut they knew held Professor Kettleburn’s magical creatures. Being such a model student in that class for years now, Kettleburn had entrusted Amaris with helping him care for some of them from time to time. Due to this, Amaris knew that her Professor kept twelve nifflers on the school grounds, and tonight, those nifflers would be in for a treat. 

Amaris led the way to Kettleburn’s secret stash, and she bounced around on her paws, waiting for the other three to catch up. When the building finally came into view, Amaris took off at a sprint. Behind her, Sirius scooped Peter up carefully into his mouth and took off after his sister with James at his side. Slinking behind the shack, the four of them transformed back into their human selves, and James handed Amaris her bag back. Grinning madly, Amaris opened the back door, and the four of them slipped inside. They were greeted with the sight of a multitude of harmless creatures. Easily, Amaris guided them to the room where the nifflers were being kept. 

Motioning for the rest of the group to wait there, Amaris slipped carefully inside the room, not wanting any of the animals to escape. Twelve pairs of beady black eyes watched her every movement as Amaris stood in the center of the room and placed her enchanted bag on the floor. She quickly opened it and produced a single Galleon from her pocket. Immediately, all of the nifflers were intrigued by the shining gold. In a herd, they rushed the girl, and she knelt down, making sure they all saw the glittering coin before she chucked it into her bag. Most of the nifflers took off after it, disappearing into the depths of the bag. The few who remained just outside the bag stared at Amaris intently. With a sigh, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a Sickle, hoping it was shiny enough to catch their attention. Thankfully it was, and again, she threw it into the bag. The remaining nifflers bolted in after it. 

Amaris quickly zipped her bag shut and smirked to herself before stepping out of the room. Three pairs of expectant eyes fell on her. She held her bag up triumphantly, and the four of them ran from the shack. 

The next morning at breakfast, the five Marauders and Lily sat at the Gryffindor table. Slyly, Amaris dropped the bag from the night before beneath the table. She’d already unzipped it, and all they needed now were a few incentives for their new friends to escape their dark prison. Trying to hide a smirk, Amaris nudged Sirius in the side and beneath the table, he released the handful of coins he’d been holding. In seconds, the nifflers were rushing out of the bag and surveying their new surroundings. Still out of sight, their eyes widened as they saw all of the glittering utensils and platters. There was one last moment of calm before chaos erupted in the Great Hall. 

The twelve nifflers scattered throughout the room, stealing whatever they could get their little hands on. As screams of terror filled the room around them, the four Marauders who were in on the prank remained completely stoic. Grabbing his mug of pumpkin juice, James took a sip, his eyes scanning the students that were trying to fend off nifflers from stealing their spoons. “Well, that’s definitely something,” James noted, trying to bite back a laugh and keep his poker face in place. 

Beside them, Lily and Remus were eyeing the four, completely dumbfounded. Shrugging and taking a bite of her eggs, Amaris glanced over at the Ravenclaw table where a niffler was chasing a student trying to steal her glittering barrette. “I’d say so. Seems like someone managed to round up exactly twelve nifflers and let them loose in the castle. Rather brilliant if I do say so myself. Wish I would’ve come up with it.” One of the nifflers was currently making its way across the top of the Gryffindor table, snagging utensils as it ran. When it neared their group, the four of them simply lifted their plates, letting the niffler continue on its merry way. 

Finally, as the four were placing their food back on the table, Remus found his voice. “Come off it. You four can’t fool me, especially with the fact that you’re unfazed by the presence of the nifflers.” Remus glanced down, surprised, as his fork disappeared from beneath his hand. He watched as a niffler shoved the utensil in its pouch and moved to steal Lily’s. “What I want to know, is just how did you manage to sneak this many of them into the castle unnoticed.”

Amaris reached under the table, retrieving her bag. She held up to Remus proudly before setting it back on the ground. “Extension charm,” she commented as she saw Remus calculating the space it would require for twelve nifflers. 

Around them, the Professors began running around the Great Hall, trying to catch any of the creatures they could find. Surely some of them had escaped already to wreak havoc further in the castle. Shaking his head, Remus gave his friends an almost awed look. “To be honest, I’m a little impressed this time.”


	7. Year Six - Turmoil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only two chapters left before part two of this series begins! My second semester of class starts in a few days, so my updates are going to become more sporadic come next week as I won't have as much time on my hands to write. From here on, things will get more angst riddled and dark, I'm sorry. The next chapter is the reprieve before everything. I'd also like to thank Jess for the wonderful suggestions that shaped parts of this chapter. And Jess, I'm so sorry, please don't hate me for this!

Number Twelve Grimmauld Place had never been outwardly welcoming, but on one late July night, it hit an all time low. Walburga Black stood at the bottom of the stairs, Regulus looming behind her, and both Amaris and Sirius were standing before their mother. The woman was screeching loud enough to wake the dead. “I’ve had it with the two of you! You come strolling into this house like you own it after having been missing for most of the night,” Walburga shouted. “Out gallivanting with the muggles you both love so much?!” Amaris and Sirius glanced at each other out of the corner of their eyes. “Answer me!”

“We went out for a walk, mother,” Amaris said sourly. There was the sickening sound of flesh hitting flesh as Walburga struck out, quick as a snake. She slapped Amaris across the face.

Walburga grit her teeth, glaring daggers at her children, if she could even call the pair that. “Don’t you lie to me.”

Sirius grabbed his sister’s shoulders, stepping in front of her. Using himself as a shield, he told his mother, “We’re not lieing. You’re just insane.” Thankfully, Sirius was expecting the next blow, and he ducked at the last second. His mother’s hand flew over his head. It flew inches past Amaris’ face that she was still nursing from the previous strike.

“Disgraceful blood-traitors! That’s all the two of you will ever be.” Walburga stared the twins down. “Why couldn’t you be more like your brother Regulus?” Behind their mother, Regulus glanced away from the scene, not wanting to be pulled into yet another family argument. “No matter what I do, I can’t get the two of you to accept what you're meant to become.”

From behind Sirius, Amaris grew bold. “We have accepted what we are. You haven’t. Unlike the rest of you lot, we understand right from wrong. I’m proud of who I’ve become, especially considering it’s the exact opposite of you, _Mrs. Black_.” Amaris spat the name, refusing to call Walburga her mother anymore. 

Walburga was left sputtering mindlessly for a moment. Her mind was so overloaded with rage and indignation she couldn’t think clearly. “Why you little,” Walburga bellowed, lunging forward. She was ready to throttle Amaris, and she would have had Sirius not stepped in. He grabbed their mother by her shoulders and held her at arm’s length away. 

“Sorry about this, but not really,” Sirius told his mother as he shoved her away. Quickly, Sirius grabbed his sister’s hand, dragging her from the house. Amaris stumbled along behind him, screaming obscenities at Walburga the entire time. Quickly Sirius pulled her around the nearest corner and placed a hand over her mouth, silencing Amaris’ shouts. Ripping his hand away from her, Amaris whirled around to face Sirius who was merely shaking his head at her. He nodded his head toward the darkness of the alley. In moments, he turned into a shaggy dog and Amaris followed suit. The two of them disappeared into the darkness as Walburga rushed by, searching for her traitorous twins. 

When they were a safe distance from their home, the twins transformed back to their normal selves. Sirius quickly enveloped his sister in an embrace. Pulling back, he glanced at her face that was already bruising. “When we get home, pack your bags,” Sirius demanded, his fingers ghosting over the darkening handprint. 

Amaris stared at him for a moment, utterly confused. “Why? It’s only July. School doesn’t start for another month and a half.”

Pulling away, Sirius reached into his pocket and produced a small piece of parchment. “I know. I’ve been talking to Prongs over the summer. He said if things got too bad that we were welcome to stay with him for the summer. That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

Amaris snatched the parchment from her brother’s hands. She quickly scanned over the scrawled words. It was too good to be true. James had truly opened his home to the two of them, not wanting them to suffer at the hands of their family anymore. “How long do you think mother will be out searching for us?”

A small smirk formed on Sirius’ features. “Long enough for us to pack, hopefully.” 

In an instant, the two were replaced by canines, and they streaked off through the night back toward the house they’d never have to see again. Around the corner, they once again transformed back and tore off toward the house, rushing to beat Walburga back. The house was oddly silent as they sprinted inside and up the stairs to their rooms. Hastily, the pair packed everything they could. Sirius was sad to have to leave all of his posters behind, but he was oddly happy when he realized his mother would never be able to remove them. Amaris finished packing first and made her way to Sirius’ room to help him finish stuffing the last of his clothes into his bags. 

Behind them, the door slowly creaked open. The pair cautiously glanced behind them, but were relieved to see it was only Regulus standing there. “Mother is going to be home soon,” their brother said plainly. “I don’t know where you think you’re going, but you’ll never make it there.” Sirius slammed his trunk shut, paying no mind to their younger brother. 

Amaris on the other hand merely slung one of her bags over her shoulder and gave Regulus an annoyed look. “Let anyone try and stop us.” Downstairs, the front door slammed shut, and they could hear their mother screaming out for them.

Regulus smirked. “They’re up here,” he called down to Walburga. 

Both Amaris and Sirius gave him twin looks of rage. Shaking their heads, the pair grabbed their things and shoved past Regulus into the hallway. They met their mother at the top of the stairs. “And just where are you going?” she demanded. 

“To somewhere that we won’t be treated like misbehaving animals,” Sirius spat. 

Walburga laughed bitterly. “Good luck with that. There’s nowhere you can run to. Nobody would take in two trouble makers like the two of you.”

Amaris narrowed her eyes at Walburga. “If you’re so sure of that, move out of the way. Prove us wrong.” Their mother made no move to let them pass, and Sirius quickly shoved his way past Walburga, making his way down the stairs. When Amaris went to do the same, Walburga grabbed hold of the case in Amaris’ hands and yanked backwards on it. Amaris felt her shoulder pop from the force and angle it was bent at. Gritting her teeth from the pain, Amaris threw the bag in her right hand down the stairs and grabbed the case with her now free hand. She yanked it from her mother’s grasp. “Thought you wanted us gone. That’s all you’ve said to us since I could even remember. Now that we’re leaving, you’re afraid of what we’ll say, aren’t you? Don’t worry _mother_ I’m sure nobody would believe two miscreants like us.” 

With that, Amaris followed her twin down the stairs, and together, they disappeared through the door. Relief flooded through them at the thought of finally being free. Now, all they had to do was make it to James’ residence. Luckily, Sirius had planned everything ahead of time, and soon, James’ mother and father suddenly appeared before them. Holding out their arms, the twins grabbed hold and quickly disapparated away from Number Twelve Grimmauld Place forever. 

~

It was now early September, and Amaris and Sirius were out for one of their famous runs through the Forbidden Forest. The pair chased each other over fallen logs and through the underbrush. They skidded to a halt as they reached the edge of the forest that overlooked the Whomping Willow. Curiously, they watched as a distant figure was making their way over to the tree. Amaris cocked her head curiously, and stealthily, she left the cover of the dark forest. Trotting over to the approaching male, she realized it was Snape. She let out a vicious growl, and Snape’s black eyes settled on her tiny form. “Filthy mongrel,” he commented, continuing on his way. 

Amaris shook her head, letting out an annoyed snort. She raced back to where Sirius still remained at the edge of the forest, watching Snape. Giving him a single prod with her nose, Amaris motioned for him to follow her. He did so, and the pair vanished into the forest again. Nearing the edge of the trees once again, Amaris and Sirius returned to themselves as they stepped out of the treeline. Quietly, they walked together toward the Whomping Willow. As soon as she could see Snape’s back, Amaris called out to him. “Careful, _Snivellus,_ if you get too close that tree might take your head off.” She paused for a moment, watching as Snape spun on his heel to glower at the twins. “On second thought, carry on. I’d like to see what happens.”

“Funny,” Snape spat. “Does your gang know you’re running amok without them? Odd to see you two without your usual support.” Snape tucked a hand into his robes, grasping his wand, but he didn’t remove it yet.

The twins watched him carefully, mimicking his movements. There was no way they’d let Snape get the upper hand over them. “The two of us can handle ourselves quite fine if I do say so myself,” Sirius responded, his face wrinkled with disgust. “What I’m curious about is just what you’re doing out here Snivellus. Trying to make friends with the willow?”

Snape let out a humorless laugh. “I’m merely trying to confirm a theory,” Snape said, turning his back on the twins carelessly and inching closer to the willow. 

“Theory?” Amaris asked, humor obvious in her airy tone. “Oh, that’s just precious. Little Snivellus is playing detective. Trying to discover the secrets surrounding Hogwarts.” She sneered at the greasy teenager. 

The Slytherin boy remained unaffected by her jeering. He’d been through years of it already, so he’d built up a rather large tolerance for their games. Instead, he spun on his heel once again and smirked maliciously back at the twins. “Of course, and if I’m right about this, then hopefully the five of you miscreants will finally be expelled.”

This caught both of the twins attention quickly. They sent each other a worried glance that hopefully Severus couldn’t see. Had Snivellus found out about their monthly trips? Or that they illegally became Animagi? What about Remus? There were so many things the Marauders were hiding at this point that would easily get them booted from the school. Warily, Sirius finally gathered the courage to question Snape. “What do you mean by that?”

Snape gave them a haughty chuckle. “I’ve seen you all coming out here before.” He motioned behind him toward the willow. “I know you’re keeping some kind of secret hidden around here. I just need to find it. Then you’ll get what you deserve.”

A small sigh of relief passed through Amaris’ lips. He had no clue what they’d been up to, and this renewed Amaris’ arrogance once again. “So, what you’re trying to say is that you’ve been following us around for Merlin knows how long, and you’ve come up with some insane scheme that we’re keeping something hidden out here? Sounds like the ramblings of a crazy stalker if you ask me.” She gave Snape a single shoulder shrug, making a disgusted face at him as she thought of him lurking around in the shadows creeping on the Marauders. 

Beside her, Sirius gave his twin a nudge in the side with his elbow. “Come on Amaris, we’ve got nothing to hide. Why not let him in on the secret?”

“Sirius . . .” Amaris warned, urging her brother to not say another word.

He paid no mind to her and carried on, his grey eyes twinkling with mischief. “Look, I’ll tell you how to get in.”

At that, Amaris gave her brother the most intimidating glare she could muster. It was fine to joke around with Snape and cause him regular harm, but this was a little over the line for her. “Sirius, don’t,” she demanded, thinking of what would happen if Snape discovered all of their secrets. To be honest, if it was anyone else that was a werewolf and secretly Animagi, Amaris would be all for telling Snivellus about the Shack. Considering the resident werewolf was currently dating her, she felt the need to protect him.

Snape was thoroughly intrigued at this point. He was close to finding out the truth of the Marauders, and he wasn’t going to let Sirius tuck tail and run now. “It’s too late to go back now, Black. Go on, tell me.”

Sirius easily accepted Snape’s challenge. He pointed to one of the gnarled roots of the willow. “You see that knot right there? All you have to do is press on it and you’ll find the secret tunnel.” Amaris was dumbfounded. She was honestly contemplating beating Sirius senseless right now, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it as he carried on. “You can finally figure out just what it is we’re up to. Which is absolutely nothing, but hey, I won’t stop your crazy.”

With a single wave of dismissal, Sirius whirled around and began walking away from the Whomping Willow. Regaining herself, Amaris chased after him. As soon as she was within hitting range, Amaris walloped her brother on the back of his head with a single fist. “What the hell Sirius, you do realize that you just let him know exactly how to find us, and more importantly, Remus, right?”

Rubbing the back of his head, Sirius glanced over his shoulder at his shorter twin. “Come on Amaris, he’ll go in now, see there’s nothing there and that will be that.”

Amaris pursed her lips, thinking over Sirius’ words. If Snape merely thought they were hiding something in the shack, maybe her brother was right . . . “You better hope so Sirius. Someone can wind up hurt or worse, found out.”

It was two weeks after the incident with Snape, and it was the first full moon of the year. Remus had already disappeared off to the Shrieking Shack, and the rest of the Marauders had been lounging around waiting for the opportunity to sneak off and join him. When they deemed it safe, the four of them slipped under James’ cloak and vanished into the night. As always, they stumbled over one another’s feet as they tried to remain hidden under the fabric. After what seemed like ages, the finally neared the Whomping Willow. Amaris came to an abrupt halt, and the three males behind her slammed into her back. 

Disgruntled, James peered over her shoulder to see what had Amaris so stunned. He watched as someone stilled the willow and began searching for the secret tunnel. His eyes narrowed slightly. Remus should already be in the shack, so there shouldn’t be anyone outside right now. “Who is that?” he asked cautiously. 

Amaris grit her teeth, suspicion rising in her. “Sirius Orion, I swear if that’s who I think it is, I’m going to murder you myself.”

James looked between Amaris and Sirius’ stunned expressions. “What’s going on?”

“Sirius blabbed to Snivellus about how to get into the Shack a few weeks back,” Amaris explained, readying to beat her brother. 

Both James and Peter were shocked. “What?! Why would you do that?” James exclaimed. He watched as Snape began disappearing into the hidden tunnel. 

They rushed forward, still hiding under the cloak. “It was a harmless joke,” Sirius began explaining easily. “I figured he’d go in that day and leave it alone after that, but to be honest, if he’s dumb enough to go in after us, then I say he get’s what’s coming to him. Shouldn’t have tried to kill my sister.” He was being so nonchalant about the situation, and everyone else was about to break out into a panicked frenzy. 

Whirling around, Amaris ripped the cloak from their shoulders. She tossed it to the ground angrily. “Sirius, what about Remus?” she demanded. “Ever think about what it would do to him?” Sure she wouldn't have minded Snape getting mauled by any other werewolf, but this was Remus they were talking about. If anything happened, it would destroy him.

Having heard enough, James rushed off toward the willow. He dragged Peter along with him, and yelled for him to transform. As soon as Peter was a rat, James scooped him off the ground and all but threw him at the knot on the root. James disappeared into the tunnel, and on the outside, Amaris was losing her mind on her brother. By the time James reached Snape, it was too late. He’d already reached the shack and seen the werewolf hiding inside. Before all hell could break loose, James grabbed hold of the back of Snape’s robes and dragged him out of the tunnel. Peter was still standing on the knot, waiting for James to emerge. Finally, he appeared, dragging a thankfully unharmed, but rather stunned Severus behind him. 

Once they were out of the tree’s reach, James released his hold on Snape, and Peter scampered off behind them to transform back in the midst of the chaos. Snape was babbling about Remus, and not knowing what else to do, Amaris used the tongue-tying curse to silence him. Unable to form coherent sentences anymore, the four Marauders tried to figure out just what to do next. 

It was now the morning after the incident, and Snape was still unable to form any singular sentence. The four Marauders and Snape were pulled out of class and ushered off to Dumbledore’s office where Remus was already waiting for the other students to arrive. As they all filed into the Headmaster’s office, three of the Marauders were shifting uneasily, and both Snape and Sirius remained outwardly calm. The six students stood in front of Dumbledore’s desk, waiting for him to address them. “It has been brought to my attention that there was an incident at the Whomping Willow last night,” Dumbldore spoke, his eyes scanning each of the students. “I’d like to hear from all of you exactly what happened.”

Snape was the first to speak up. “He’s a monster,” Snape accused, pointing a single finger in Remus’ direction. The sandy haired teen merely glanced down at his feet in shame. “They’re all monsters. Black told me how to get into the secret tunnel knowing full well what’s being kept in there.” Severus’ voice was dripping with anger and disgust. “He intended to kill me, and he would’ve succeeded had Potter not gotten cold feet and tried to save me.”

Indignant, Sirius called, “I did not try to kill you!” It was true, but honestly, not a single tear would be shed had things gone south.

Offended by the accusations, Amaris went on the offensive. “If you hadn’t been stalking us around the castle, then you would never have found out about the tree.” She sent a fiery glare in Snape’s general direction. “Your crazy desire to get us kicked out of school is to blame for all of this.”

“I had my suspicions about your friend there, but now I know for sure.” There was an odd contentment in Snape’s tone. “I guess I should be saying thanks because now I can rightfully say that Remus Lupin is a werewolf. It’s all thanks to you two that I figured it out.” Amaris could feel Remus’ betrayed gaze boring into her. She wanted nothing more than to disappear at that moment. 

Before Sirius or even Amaris could retort, Dumbledore stepped in. “Now, Severus, that’s a bold accusation you’re making.”

Undeterred, Snape carried on, “I saw it myself. He went into the tunnel and the only thing in there was that wolf.” Ashamed, Amaris spared a single glance at her boyfriend out of the corner of her eye. He was watching her, red-faced with anger and betrayal. 

Dumbledore let out a small sigh, and Amaris was grateful for the distraction. She tore her eyes away from Remus and watched Dumbledore. “Well, I suppose there’s no hiding that secret anymore. Yes, poor Remus suffers from that particular ailment, but due to the circumstances, you are not to speak of this to anyone. Do you all understand?”

All of the students present nodded and offered their Headmaster a simple, “Yes Sir.” 

Pleased, Dumbledore accepted their words and turned to face the twins. “Very well. Sirius, Amaris, I hope you understand exactly how much danger you have placed each and every one of you in last night.”

“Yes Professor,” Sirius began, “I didn’t mean for Snape to stumble into that scene. I was hoping that he would merely leave us alone and quit following all of us around like a lost dog. I’m sorry for the trouble that it caused.” Even though he apologized, there was very little remorse in his tone. The only thing he was sorry about was exposing Remus.

Dumbledore either didn’t notice or didn’t put too much weight into Sirius’ words. “It seems you understand the gravity of the situation. If we’re all understanding that this will never happen again, you’re all free to leave.”

Letting out relieved sighs, the students all shuffled out of the office. They walked in an uncomfortable silence, not sure exactly what to say or do at this point. Snape had disappeared down a side hallway, and finally, the Marauders were alone. Instantly, Remus rounded on the twins. His eyes blazed with fury as he eyed Sirius. “You did _what_ Sirius?”

Sirius held his hands out in an attempt to placate Remus. It had no effect though. “Look, I honestly didn’t mean for him to find you like that.”

The werewolf shook his head angrily. “But you gave him the way in.” Amaris’ heart dropped as he focused his fury filled stare on her. “And you, you didn’t stop him.” The girl opened her mouth to respond, her eyes pleading with him to just hear her out. Before she could, Remus spat, “I know you were with him, don’t give me that look.”

Wounded, Amaris tried her best to explain. “I did try to stop him, but he wouldn’t listen.”

“I’m not dealing with this right now. I’m going to bed seeing as how I haven’t been cleared to return to classes yet.” Remus spun on his heel, storming off away from the Marauders. They were all left awestruck and crestfallen by their friend’s behavior. 

The only thing that was keeping Amaris from throttling her twin was James standing between the two of them. “Thanks Sirius. Now look what you’ve caused.” Amaris’ head was reeling. Remus believed that she had given away his secret, and surely, it was only a matter of time before he pulled the plug on their relationship.

“I’ll talk to him,” Sirius promised, but Amaris was sure there was nothing that could be said right now to fix this problem. Shaking her head, she split off from the rest of the Marauders and made her way back to class.

~

It had been two weeks since the incident, and both twins had received plenty of scolding from the other three Marauders, but finally, things had returned back to normal. The six of them were holed up in boys’ room as they always used to be. James and Lily sat hand in hand on James’ bed, and across the room, Amaris and Remus were curled against one another. Sirius and Peter were on the floor between the two couples. The conversation had easily drifted to what everyone was planning on doing after school let out the next year. The realization suddenly hit that they were no longer going to be in school anymore. They’d be released into the real world to do as they pleased. 

Wrapping a lazy arm around Lily, James smirked at his friends with an air of cocky arrogance. “I’m going to try to become an Auror when I graduate.” Everyone in the room aside from Peter and Amaris looked at the male as though he’d sprouted a second head. “What? I want to be able to put away people like Snivellus, among other reasons.” James glanced momentarily between the twins. He’d seen first hand just how terrible followers of the Dark Arts could be, and James wanted to do everything in his power to make a difference. He’d originally wanted to follow his dream of becoming a quidditch star, but his priorities had changed over time.

When Amaris caught his gaze temporarily, it was as though she could read his mind. She gave James a lopsided grin. “An Auror, Potter? Trying to steal my thunder, aren’t you?” The hand around Amaris’ waist tightened slightly. Remus had an inkling that Amaris was going to try and do something stupid like fight Dark Wizards, but he was in no way fond of the idea. The girl gave her boyfriend a soothing look before giving him a small peck on the cheek. 

“Come now Amaris, I’d never do such a thing,” James teased her. “Think of it ‘Maris, we could work together and we’d be unstoppable.”

An idea sparked in Amaris’ head, and she leaned forward in Remus’ grasp. “Imagine if we could all be Aurors together. Then we’d truly be unstoppable. Lily and Remus could be the brains of the operation, Peter could be our support, and between you, Sirius, and I, we’d have enough reckless force to get anything done!”

“Amaris,” Remus chided her lightly, “As fond as I am of the idea of chasing down dark wizards, I don’t think I’ll be able to make the cut.”

Amaris glanced back at the werewolf dejectedly. She took in his sullen expression, eyes roaming over the pale scars that marred his handsome features. It had never occurred to her that due to his condition he wouldn’t be able to secure such a job. Not wanting him to feel left out, Amaris beamed at him. “Well in that case, I can always come to you for help when I need it. I’m sure that’ll happen relatively often.”

After that, the conversation turned into James and Amaris trying to convince everyone else to join in their ambition. With a few hints about certain family members, Amaris was sure she’d have Sirius convinced soon enough. 

~

Spring had rolled around, and most of the year had already flown by without much incident. Since the terrible prank at the Shrieking Shack, the Marauders had matured quite a bit, reigning in their wild tendencies. It was just after their last class for the day, and the five of them trailed through the portrait hole. Amaris paused, allowing the males to continue toward their dorm. Before he was out of reach, Amaris grabbed Remus by the wrist and pulled him off to a deserted corner of the common room. Releasing her grip on him, Amaris crossed her arms and gave him an even look. “Okay, what’s your deal Remus?” she demanded. Remus gave her a bewildered look, not understanding what Amaris was getting at. “You’ve been practically ignoring me for the last week, and don’t even think about using the full moon tomorrow as an excuse. I know how you get, and you’re being ten times moodier than usual.”

Remus’ expression grew somber. “It’s nothing Amaris, I’ve just been busy.”

“Bullshit,” Amaris spat. She knew better. He’d been coming up with excuses to dodge spending time with her, and she was determined to figure out why. “Did I do something to upset you?”

Quickly, Remus shook his head. “No, it’s nothing like that,” he offered, trying to easily smooth things over. 

Now desperate, Amaris asked, “Then what’s going on?”

Remus broke eye contact with Amaris; his eyes darting around the room uneasily. “Recently, I’ve noticed people staring at the two of us.” Remus’ voice had grown meek. This wasn’t something he’d wanted to talk to Amaris about. “I’m sure you’ve heard the whispers.”

Amaris’ world came crashing down around her. “Yes, Remus, I’ve noticed the stares and heard the chatter. All about how you’re downgrading by dating a _crazy Black.” _Since they’d started dating last year, they’d been the talk of the school. The entirety of this year was no different. She paid no mind to them, and she’d assumed Remus had been doing the same, but apparently not. “I didn’t think you’d pay much mind to it all though. I guess I was wrong.”

“Amaris-” 

The black haired teen cut him off, not wanting to hear him tell her how he could do better than her. She heard it enough around the castle, but coming from Remus himself . . . “No, it’s okay Remus. I get it,” Amaris said, backing away from him slowly. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable or ruin anything for you.” Amaris shrugged, fighting back tears. “To be honest, I knew it was a longshot getting to be with you. Too good to be true.” Spinning on her heel, Amaris gave him one last sad look before saying, “It’s fine though, no need to drag yourself down with my _crazy, Lupin.”_ With that, Amaris dashed for the portrait hole and disappeared through it. That was the first time Amaris had ever referred to him by his last name, and it struck Remus harshly.

Shaking his head to clear it, Remus finally regained control of himself and ran after her. As soon as he was through the portrait, he called, “Amaris!” It was too late though, Amaris was already gone. Numbly, Remus made his way back into the common room and toward his room. He stumbled through the door, and the three Gryffindors already in their room glanced curiously at him. 

Sirius noticed his sister was nowhere to be seen. “Where’s Amaris?” he asked, knowing she was right behind them when they’d entered the common room. Remus offered him a half-hearted shrug before collapsing face down onto his bed. He’d managed to mess up the one good thing going for him in life, and he wasn’t sure how to fix it. Amaris thought he didn’t want to be with her because of silly rumors, and that wasn’t it at all. He just needed to talk to her, but he knew she wouldn’t give in easily. 

Across the grounds, a small red fox bolted across the lawn, disappearing behind the trees into the darkness of the Forbidden Forest. 

It had been four days of Amaris ignoring Remus, and he couldn’t take it anymore. Everyone had begun catching on that something had happened between the two of them. If they weren’t in class or eating in the Great Hall, Amaris was nowhere to be seen. Even then, Amaris was known to disappear from meals early. Finally, as they were both bent over their cauldrons, trying to perfect a Shrinking Solution, Remus built the courage to say something to her. Pausing before he added his wormwood, Remus glanced over at Amaris who was obviously ignoring him still and staring intently into her cauldron. “Amaris, we need to talk,” Remus stated, almost pleadingly. 

Amaris pursed her lips, stirring her potion vigorously after adding her own wormwood to it. Not even glancing in his direction, she muttered, “You can try, but I promise you, I will hex you into silence.” For emphasis, Amaris patted where her wand was stashed in her robes with her free hand. Remus sighed dejectedly and went back to his potion. From where they were silently making their potions, James and Sirius eyed the pair warily. Things were only going downhill further, and there was no solution in sight. 

As soon as class was dismissed, Amaris bolted from the room, not feeling up to walking with the other four right now. After Remus’ comment in class, she was reeling. He wanted to talk with her? After what he’d already implied? She shook her head angrily, storming around the corner that led to the Great Hall. Quietly, she fell into step behind a group of fifth year Gryffindor girls. “Have you heard? Lupin is finally free of Black,” one of the girls whispered, completely unaware of Amaris trailing along silently behind them. 

“About time he realized she was bonkers,” another responded. This enticed a series of giggles from the other three girls. “Haven’t they been together since their third year?” The girl tossed her long brown hair over her shoulder. 

The group fell into silence for a moment, and Amaris was now listening intently. “No, I don’t think so,” the first girl to speak responded. “They got together recently, I heard.”

Unbeknownst to Amaris, the brunette batted her eyelashes and smiled coyly. “That means I might finally stand a chance with him. I think I’m going to ask him to go with me on our next Hogsmeade trip.”

The other three girls gasped before the one with blonde hair spoke up. “Careful, Batty Black might hex you if she hears that,” she whispered rather loudly. 

This was Amaris’ breaking point. She was already close to boiling over hearing the brunette already trying to close in on Remus, but now she’d had it with the girls. She shouldered past the girls before turning around to face them, walking backwards. “Yeah, you better be careful,” she warned darkly, “Wouldn’t want _Batty Black_ to hear anything you’re gossiping about. My hand might just slip next time.” Her fingers twitched, itching to grab her wand, but she ignored it and disappeared into the Great Hall. Behind her, the Gryffindors broke out into hushed whispers. 

Amaris had taken her normal seat at their table and waited for the rest of the Marauders to show up. She’d already begun picking at her lunch. Her appetite had been gone since her fight with Remus, and every day, she received concerned looks from Lily, James, and Sirius. Today was no different. As they took their seats, Remus sat as far away from Amaris as he could, while James sat beside her with Lily by his side. At least one couple in the group was prospering. 

The group fell into awkward silence. Nobody ever knew what to say anymore as they didn’t want to upset the already teetering balance of their friendship. Everyone except Amaris and Remus began eating quietly. The pair merely stared at their food until a familiar voice broke through the silence. “Oh, Remus, I’ve been meaning to talk to you.” A flirty giggle followed the words, and Amaris glanced up to see the same brunette from earlier batting her eyelashes down at Remus. Still fuming from the earlier confrontation, she stabbed her defenseless sandwich mercilessly. 

The werewolf glanced up from his food for a second. He recognized the girl, but didn’t know who she was. Not in the mood for conversation, he bluntly asked, “Sorry, who are you?”

If she was offended at all, the fifth year girl didn’t show it. She just smiled down at Remus sweetly. Amaris felt like vomiting and instead focused on twisting the knife that was still embedded in her food. “Cassidy Worthy, I’m a fifth year.” From where she sat beside him, James could feel Amaris’ anger radiating off her. 

Uninterested, Remus went back to prodding his sandwich with a finger. “Oh, yeah, I’ve seen you around. What can I do for you?”

Cassidy tucked her hair behind her ear. “Well, I was wondering if you wanted to accompany me on the next Hogsmeade trip later this month?”

Discreetly, Amaris pulled out her wand beneath the table. She’d warned the girl earlier about her hand slipping. Remus was having none of the girl’s flirting though. “Sorry, I wasn’t planning on going,” he said dismissively. He originally had been planning on going with the Marauders, but due to recent events, he was just going to stay back and wallow in self pity. 

Cassidy wasn’t going to give up so easily though. “Isn’t there some way I can change your mind?”

That was it. Finally, Amaris stood, pointing her wand directly at Cassidy. “Furnunculus!” she yelled, and boils began sprouting on the girl’s face. Cassidy let out a shrill shriek, and pleased with herself, Amaris smirked darkly before disappearing out of the Great Hall. Swearing, Sirius bolted out of his seat and took off after his sister. Sirius chased his twin through the halls, calling out her name, but Amaris refused to stop. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks, and she didn’t want anyone to see her like this. Quickly, she disappeared into the girl’s bathroom and fell into one of the stalls, letting her tears flow freely. 

Outside of the bathroom, Sirius sighed and stormed off back to the Great Hall. He was going to have to find a time to talk to Amaris, but he wasn’t sure he’d be able to. He knew that when Amaris got like this, she would quickly become inconsolable and stuck in her own thoughts. Anger boiling over, he made his way back to the table and reclaimed his seat. He glared over at Remus who was staring bewildered at his food. “I’ve had enough,” Sirius stated. Everyone’s gaze flashed to him. Sirius didn’t care, the only person he wanted to deal with right now was Remus. “Enough moping. Enough fighting. What the hell happened?”

They’d never seen Sirius so angry aside from when Amaris was attacked the year before. Remus’ green eyes darkened as he met Sirius’ cold stare. “Nothing.” He stood from his seat and exited the Great Hall. Frustrated, Sirius placed his head in his hands. The small family he’d formed here at school had begun falling apart, and it seemed as though there was nothing he could do to stop it. He couldn’t even imagine what Amaris was feeling right now. 

~

It was late Saturday night, and Amaris knew everyone would be asleep. With a heavy sigh, she made her way through the common room and headed for the boys’ dorms. It had been almost a week since she’d ventured up there, and she wasn’t sure she truly wanted to go up there. With everyone asleep though, she wouldn’t have to deal with any of them. Amaris merely craved her brother’s comfort. She felt so distanced and lonely anymore. Quietly, she slipped into their room. Amaris spared Remus’ sleeping form a single glance before she transformed into a fox and padded across the room. Leaping into his bed, Amaris curled up beside her brother. Still unconscious, Sirius rolled over, and his arm draped over his sister’s furry body. 

Slowly, he came to, glancing down at the canine that lay in his bed, staring intently at him. His eyes quickly widened. “Vix? What are you doing in here? Where have you been?” he whispered hurriedly. Sirius hadn’t seen her since classes let the day before as Amaris had spent most of the weekend as a fox, disappearing into the comfort of the forest. “Come on, let’s go out for a run. That always cheers you up.” Sirius quietly got out of his bed and snagged James’ invisibility cloak from his trunk and the Marauder’s Map. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if we borrowed this.” Glancing at the map, he saw the coast was clear. Scooping Amaris off his bed, Sirius left the room and the pair disappeared under the cloak. 

As soon as they were outside, Sirius set Amaris on the ground and transformed. He shook the cloak free of himself and hid it behind one of the bushes. Surely nobody would find it there before they came back. Content, they both dashed off into the night, vanishing into the forest. The pair ran in silence, and Amaris revelled in the freedom that came with running. Her mind was clear, and the only thing she felt was the air in her lungs and her paws hitting the soft ground. Finally, the pair slowed and came to rest in a clearing. Sirius quickly transformed back, and urged his sister to do the same. Reluctantly, Amaris did as he asked. Sirius took in his sister’s unkempt appearance and let out a sad sigh. “So, what’s going on? I take it this has to do with Remus.” 

Sirius sat on a fallen log, and Amaris quickly collapsed into him. He could feel her tears soaking the tee shirt he’d worn to bed. He didn’t say anything and merely let Amaris get the sobs out of her system. Finally, with a sniffle, Amaris asked, “Why did we have to be born Blacks? Why couldn’t we have been in any other family?” 

Sirius pursed his lips, running a hand through his sister’s hair calmly. This wasn’t the first time they’d been in a situation similar to this, though it was usually caused by their mother. “I don’t know ‘Maris. I ask myself that all the time.” With a heavy sigh, Amaris went on to explain what Remus had said to her the day they had split up.

Pulling away from his sister, Sirius fixed her with a stern glance. “‘Maris. I’m sure he didn’t mean it like that.” He paused, mulling over the idea of Remus thinking his sister was crazy. “I wouldn’t know for sure though as he hasn’t spoken to any of us about it since you two haven’t been speaking. To be honest, he’s been a mess.”

Amaris shifted on the log so there was some space between the two of them. For a moment, the only sounds in the night were the usual calls of the creatures that dwelled in the forest. “Sure doesn’t look like it to me. He seems relatively okay about it all,” Amaris finally said glumly, toeing the dirt with her shoe as a distraction. 

“Because you see him in public, not behind closed doors.” Sirius placed a hand under his sister’s chin, forcing her to look at him. “Amaris, you two are perfect for each other, believe it or not. You two might not see it yourselves, but you’re wild and rowdy which pulls him out of his shell around you, and he’s calm and rational which reigns you in easily."

Amaris scoffed at her brother. "Perfect for each other, you say.” She shook her head dejectedly. “Sirius, Lupin is way too smart, gifted, talented, and handsome to be with me. He has girls fawning over him and he's too dense to realize it. He could have anyone he wants." Her heart broke as she voiced her feelings aloud. Amaris knew he could be so much better off with someone that didn’t have as much baggage as she did. He could find some nice, normal girl that didn’t grow up in a house of hatred. 

Sirius knew exactly what Amaris was feeling. Broken. "Maybe he did have that Amaris," Sirius said hopefully. He saw how Remus would light up around his sister, and only her.

"Then why would he be so opposed to people knowing?" Amaris worried her lip nervously. 

Sirius’ expression softened immensely. "‘Maris, just look at everything you’ve done for him.” Amaris was always the one by his side, never fearing anything around Remus. “He wouldn’t let something like rumors change his opinion of that. Do you think maybe he didn’t want people taking notice because of what he is?”

Amaris looked disgusted at the suggestion. “It doesn’t matter what he is.” At this point, Remus’ condition had become a normal part of all their lives. Amaris had a hard time picturing what things would be like if Remus wasn’t a werewolf. Would he have even given them the time of day if he wasn’t so ashamed of what he was? Surely he would’ve found other friends, or even been placed in a different house. He would never have put up with them if he didn't feel as though they were all he had.

Amaris glanced at her brother as he prodded her cheek lightly. “To you, yes. To others, well, as you know many people aren’t as accepting of you.” Sirius paused, thinking over what he wanted to say next. “Later in the future, he’ll have a hard life with his condition. Maybe he doesn’t want to force that onto you.”

“That isn't his choice to make though,” Amaris said indignantly. She was tired of people trying to plan out her future for her. She wanted the freedom to make her own choices, not allow people to dictate her life. “What I want with my future is my decision."

Her brother understood her feelings all too well. "Well, that's something you need to tell him, not me," he told her pointedly.

Amaris glanced back down at the ground sheepishly. "I know, but I don't know if I'm ready to face him yet."

Beside her, Sirius let out a slow sigh. "If you want to fix this, you need to do it sooner rather than later."

His sister rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah, yeah,” she scoffed. “When did you become the all knowing advice giver? Go back to being the one that comes up with stupid ideas 'cause I hate it when you're right." Amaris made an annoyed face at her twin. Sirius merely chuckled at her before standing once again.

“I’ve got my moments,” was all he said as he offered a hand down to Amaris. She gratefully took it, and the pair began making their way back to the castle. The two of them felt lighter after their talk, but Amaris still carried the dread that came with having to eventually face Remus again. Not wanting to be alone just yet, Sirius allowed her to follow him back to his room where Amaris spent the night carefully tucked under his arm. 

Remus rolled over in his bed, glancing out the window as the first rays of morning light streamed through the curtains. Groaning, he scanned the room to see if anyone was awake, but it was a long shot as the other males always slept in. As his eyes swept over Sirius’ form, Remus noticed an all too familiar tuft of orange and white fur dangling over the side of his bed. Narrowing his eyes, Remus quietly removed himself from his bed and quickly changed into more appropriate attire for the day. Thankfully, nobody stirred, and he crept his way over to where Sirius lay, cuddling his sister’s furry form. 

Amaris’ ears twitched in her sleep as she heard someone approaching, and she stirred lightly. Rolling over, she slipped out from beneath her brother’s arm and stretched her small form out along the bed. As she began drifting back off to sleep, she was quickly lifted off the mattress. Immediately, she began wriggling against the warm hands and fought hard to free herself. It was no use though. Remus spun Amaris in his grasp so she could see just who was holding her. Amaris stilled in his grasp and gave him the best glare she could as a fox. 

The fox opened her mouth to let out a loud wail, but before she did, Remus said, "Go ahead, wake them up. None of them will save you. They want this fixed as much as I do." Amaris shut her mouth and sagged in Remus’ grasp. Taking this as her compliance, Remus tucked Amaris beneath his arm and began making his way out of the castle. The entire way, Amaris pouted and let her paws hang lifelessly beneath her. Once they made it within range of their tree, Remus carefully set Amaris down on the grass. Thankfully, she didn’t make a run for it like he half expected her to. Instead, Amaris merely sat on the grass, staring back up at Remus with wide, brown eyes. Folding his arms, Remus peered down his nose at her. “I’m not having this conversation with a fox.” 

With an annoyed huff, Amaris stood and trotted behind the trunk of the tree. With a quick glance around, she saw nobody in the immediate vicinity, and she transformed back into her human self. Raking a hand through her messy hair, she stepped out from around the tree and faced Remus. Folding her arms around herself, she did her best to make herself seem as small as possible as she stood in his intimidating gaze. When Amaris made no move to speak, Remus let out a deep breath through his nose before carefully saying, “Amaris, we need to talk.”

If it was even possible, the girl shrank even further into herself. She was in no way ready for this conversation. “I know,” she said quietly.

“I hope you also know you make things way harder than they need to be,” Remus chided. His face was soft with emotion. 

Amaris worried her bottom lip, staring at the ground. “I’m sorry Remus.” Remus was in no way used to seeing Amaris like this. He’d only seen her this miserable a few times in the six years he’d known her, and every time, her mother was the cause of her misery. Remus could feel his heart drop at the realization. Slowly, he stepped closer to her, and Amaris shrank back away from him. Holding his hands out in a sign of peace, Remus walked past her and sat down against the tree. He beckoned her to do the same, and warily, Amaris followed his lead.

Wrapping her arms around her legs, Amaris pulled her legs close to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. All Remus wanted to do was wrap his arms around Amaris and promise her everything was going to be okay, but he knew better. “I just want you to know that I didn’t mean things to sound as they did. You aren’t the problem Amaris. I am,” he said somberly. 

Finally, those familiar grey eyes he’d come to love settled on Remus. They were filled with hurt and betrayal. “You should realize by now Remus that I don’t care what people think.” Amaris paused, tucking a stray strand of dark hair behind her ear. “Life is about being happy, not catering to others and trying to please everyone you can. If I played that game, I’d be in Slytherin right now training to become a Death Eater and happily torture and murder people, but I’m not.” Slowly, Amaris reached out a single hand, cautiously taking Remus’ in her own. He quickly wove his fingers between hers, revelling in the comforting feel of her hand in his. “You make me happy Remus, and people can think whatever they want about it.”

Remus gave her hand a quick squeeze. “How can you so easily say that? Being with me is only going to make your life harder Amaris.” It was Remus’ turn to look away in shame. “I wasn’t even going to be able to attend school if not for Dumbledore’s kindness. Who knows what the rest of my life will look like.”

Scooting closer to Remus, Amaris rested her head on his shoulder lightly. She peered up at him through her thick lashes. “That’s something to be taken one step at a time, Remus. Why worry about the future when it isn’t here yet?”

“Because I don’t want you throwing yours away.” He recalled the conversation they’d had earlier in the year. “You have big plans of being an Auror. You can’t easily give that up.”

Amaris pulled away from him slightly, staring intently into his green depths. “Who said I’d be doing that? Who knows if I’ll even pass my NEWTs to become an Auror.”

“If you stay with me-”

Amaris quickly cut him off, not wanting to hear him talk bad about himself. “Remus. My future is for me to decide, and I’d rather have you in it. If you don’t want that, I won’t force myself into your life.” Dejectedly, Amaris began pulling her hand from Remus’ grasp, but he tightened his hold on her slightly, refusing to let her go.

Remus was silent for a moment that seemed to drag on forever. “I do want you in it, but I don’t want you to be disappointed if things don’t turn out how you wished they would.”

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Amaris fell back against the tree. “I don’t even know what’s going to happen later today. How am I supposed to figure out what the future holds?” Glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, Amaris stated, “One step at a time Remus. Stop worrying and just roll with what life throws at you.”

“You’re right,” Remus said with a soft smile. Amaris’ heart skipped a beat, and very quickly, she leaned in and gave Remus a small peck on the cheek. “So does this mean we’re okay?” His voice was hopeful.

“Up for you to decide. You already know my decision.” There was only a single moment of uncertainty before Remus closed the distance between the two of them. His lips met Amaris’, and she quickly melted into him. All too soon, Remus pulled away and gave her a lopsided grin. They remained huddled together under the tree for most of the morning, simply enjoying each other’s presence once again after their two weeks of misery. 

Their moment was ruined as the three other Marauders neared them. They took in the sight of Amaris and Remus holding hands, their heads leaning against one another, and they all let out sounds of relief. “About time. I didn’t think I could take you two fighting anymore,” James remarked, settling down into the grass near them. Amaris gave him a quick shove with her foot. “What? We were all tired of the ridiculous tension. Besides, you guys are like two halves of a whole. It was weird not seeing you together.” Rolling her eyes, Amaris glanced back up at Remus and gave him a light smile. 

~

It was the day before they were to board the Hogwarts Express, ending their sixth year of school. The Marauders and Lily lounged on the lawn in their usual spot. Remus glanced down at Amaris who was casually leaning against his shoulder, watching as her brother carved his name into the tree beside them. Since Remus had learned of their homeless state at the start of the year, he’d recently gained the courage to write home to his parents, asking them if Amaris could stay with them for the summer. They’d already heard plenty about her over the previous summer as Remus’ parents had weaseled the information from him easily. Of course Lyall and Hope had quickly replied, excited to finally meet the girl their son was so taken with. 

Remus had hidden this fact from Amaris, not sure exactly how she would take the suggestion. Nervously, Remus prodded her in the shoulder, pulling her attention away from Sirius. Amaris glanced up at him with wide, curious eyes. Remus lost himself in their depths, postponing the inevitable, burning question he had to ask. Amaris whispered his name, bringing him back to the present, and Remus finally asked, “What would you say to staying with me over the summer?” Amaris blinked a few times, blindsided by the question. Remus took this as her formulating an excuse to say no. “I mean, you don’t have to. I just figured I’d ask since you ran away, and-”

“Remus,” Amaris cut off his dejected ramblings. “I’d love to, but what about your parents?” Amaris’ tone held a hint of worry. Surely if they realized who she was, they wouldn’t want her anywhere near Remus due to the wonderful family reputation. 

Remus glanced away from her sheepishly, his face reddening slightly. “I already asked them.” He gave his girlfriend a warm smile, hoping she wouldn’t ask anymore questions. “They already know about us. They can’t wait to finally get to meet you.”

Amaris’ eyes grew wide as she stared the werewolf down. “Remus John Lupin,” she said hissed. “What did you tell your parents about me?”

“Anything they asked,” he replied warily. Amaris hit him softly on the shoulder. “When you meet them, you’ll understand. There’s no escaping the questions.”

With a huff, Amaris fell back against Remus. “You’re lucky you’re so cute, Lupin. Otherwise, we’d have major problems; telling my secrets to the world.”


	8. Year Seven - Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter before the Epilogue for this story. I seriously can't believe how far this story has come in such a short amount of time. The amount of reads, kudos, and comments I've gotten on this story is amazing. I didn't really expect it to do as well as it has done. Thank you to theFearTakesHold and Jess for being there through this entire story and to those of you who have read this far. It means so much to me. Tomorrow, I'll be putting up the last chapter of this story and the first chapter of the next part, so be on the look out for those. <3

Amaris sat awkwardly in the den of the small, ramshackle home. Her hands were clasped tightly in her lap, and Remus sat beside her, hand rubbing calming circles against her shoulder. They had just arrived at Remus’ home, and neither of his parents were home yet. Both were gone at work, leaving Amaris to lose herself in her thoughts as she feared what his parents would think of her. Remus was doing his best to soothe her, but nothing worked, and all too soon, the front door could be heard opening. Amaris’ breath hitched in her throat, and she felt like fainting. It was ridiculous, and she knew it. She’d almost been killed at school, and yet here she was being reduced to a panicking puddle at the thought of meeting Remus’ parents. 

“Remus, are you home?” a woman’s cheery voice echoed down the hallway. 

Amaris felt like exploding, and Remus couldn’t help but chuckle slightly. He’d never seen her this freaked out before, and it was quite adorable if he did say so himself. Grabbing her hand, Remus reminded her to breathe before responding to his mother. “Yeah, we’re in the den.”

There was a long pause. “Oh, Amaris is here then too?” Seconds later, a woman peered around the corner. Familiar green eyes framed by dark brown hair locked on Amaris’ shrinking form on the couch. “It’s so nice to finally get to meet you!” Hope called, rushing into the room. “Lyall and I have heard so much about you from Remus here, but he never told us how pretty you are.” 

Amaris was completely at a loss for words. She couldn’t believe how zealous and kind Remus’ mother was. It was the complete opposite of what she’d grown to know, and it befuddled her. Finally, she found her voice. “Thank you Mrs. Lupin, and thank you for opening your home to me for the summer.”

Hope waved Amaris’ words away. “Please, call me Hope.” Hope smiled warmly at Amaris. “And it’s no problem dear, really. I’m sorry to hear about what happened to you last year. Remus told Lyall and I about what you've been through.” Hope's warm eyes grew sympathetic, but her smile remained positively endearing.

Shaking her head, Amaris easily dodged the insinuation. “It’s nothing, really. Just glad it’s over.” With a sad smile, Hope sat down in the den across from Remus and Amaris. They slipped into conversation about how the pair had met and some of their escapades during school. Remus had let it slip to his parents that Amaris was a bit of a troublemaker, but surprisingly, Hope merely laughed at some of the pranks Amaris had pulled. They briefly covered Remus’ condition as he’d told his mother that Amaris knew all about it and did her best to help. Hope expressed her gratitude time and time again over that fact. Soon, the sound of the door opening again caught their attention. 

Hope stood, moving to greet her husband at the door. Back in the den, Amaris slipped back into her panic mode once again. Things had gone surprisingly well with Remus’ mother, but how would they go with his father? From the hallway, they could hear Hope’s voice echoing off the walls. “Remus brought Amaris with him for the summer. She’s just the sweetest little thing. Quite the keeper if I do say so myself.” Both Amaris and Remus turned bright red at the words. Remus wanted to disappear at his mother’s embarrassing admissions, and he wasn’t the only one. Beside him, Amaris was doing her best to disappear into the cushions of the couch. Before she could successfully vanish into the furniture, Hope returned, holding the hand of what looked exactly like an older version of Remus. 

His father had shorter, combed back hair and chocolate colored eyes, but aside from that, Remus was the spitting image of Lyall. Once again, Amaris was put under the scrutinizing gaze of Remus’ parents. Lyall wasn’t as instantly warm as Hope had been. The couple sat down across from the teenagers and Lyall spoke, “Black, right?” Lyall's voice wasn't exactly cold, but it surely wasn't welcoming. Meekly, Amaris nodded. Remus put a comforting arm around her, and Amaris fell back into it. This was the sort of welcome she’d been expecting. “Nothing good has ever come from that name. From what Remus has said, you’re different than the rest of them though. Even ran away.”

Amaris worried her lip before saying, “Yes sir, both my brother and I. We couldn’t take living there anymore. Nothing but a bunch of pureblood elitists with too much time on their hands if you ask me.” 

Lyall nodded thoughtfully. “Remus also told us that you discovered his secret years ago.” Lyall’s brown eyes bored into Amaris’ terrified grey ones. “But instead of ousting him, you’ve done what you can to make his ailment easier?” Not knowing how much Remus had told his parents, Amaris merely nodded. “Then I guess you’re okay in my book.” Bewildered, Amaris sat mutely next to Remus, blinking wildly. Lyall had just seemed like he was going to throw her out on the streets, and now he’d done a complete 180 and was laughing at her confused expression. “Anyone who would accept him despite everything and help him how you have, that speaks volumes of who you truly are.” 

~

The summer had passed by all too quickly in a blur of stolen moments and kisses. Even though it was the first time being away from Sirius for an extended period of time, Amaris had enjoyed every moment of it. The last three months with Remus were complete bliss, and she couldn’t wait until they graduated. Hopefully the two of them could get a house together and live whatever life they choose. Hand in hand, the pair left platform 9 ¾ and boarded the Hogwarts Express for what would be the last time. They waved goodbye to Hope and Lyall who had come to see their son and his girlfriend off, and Remus and Amaris disappeared into their compartment. Sirius and Peter were already sitting in the cabin alone discussing plans for the year that lay ahead of them. 

Immediately, Amaris released Remus’ hand and tackled her brother in a hug. “How was your summer with James?” Sirius quickly recounted the mischief he and James had gotten up to over the summer months. Before Sirius could question Amaris about her summer, Amaris pulled away from him and scanned the compartment. “Where is Prongs anyway? And Lily?”

The corner of Sirius’ mouth quirked up in some semblance of a smirk. “As soon as we boarded the train they both disappeared together. They’ve been apart all summer. They’re probably off doing terrible things to each other as we speak.”

Amaris removed herself from her twin finally, shuddering. She fell back into her usual seat beside Remus and took his hand once again. After spending most of the summer hand in hand, she felt weird not having that contact. “Thank you Sirius. Just what I wanted to be thinking about.” 

The smirk on Sirius’ face widened exponentially. “I mean, it couldn’t be any worse than what you two were up to all summer.”

Both Remus and Amaris were left sputtering. Sirius wasn’t exactly wrong, but neither of them were going to admit it. “It wasn’t like that,” Amaris finally said, her face as red as a tomato.

Sirius and Peter rounded in on the pair thoroughly enjoying tormenting the couple. Finally, the door to the compartment slid open, saving both Remus and Amaris from further embarrassment from the other Marauders. James and Lily stepped in, looking exasperated. “How was your getaway?” Sirius asked, wagging his eyebrows at them.

Lily made a disgusted sound and sat down next to James. “I’ll have you know, we were named Head Boy and Girl this year. We had  _ important _ business to deal with. Not like you'd understand what that means.”

The compartment fell into silence before Sirius called, “Head Boy? You, Potter?!” James merely shrugged at them and quickly, the twins rounded on him, making plenty of snide comments about him having to be on his best behavior this year. Now, it was up to them and them alone to leave their mark on the school during their last year. 

For most of the ride to school, Sirius continued teasing James about being named Head Boy, and when he rounded on Lily, she was having none of it. “Were you dropped on your head as a child?” Lily asked Sirius as James shoved him off the bench. 

From where Sirius lay on the floor, he gave Lily a crooked grin. “Bold of you to assume I was ever held, Evans.” Lily looked shocked at his comment, but in reality, they all knew it was probably true. 

“Sirius,” James said in an almost comforting tone. Sirius quickly burst out laughing, and Amaris merely shook her head at her brother’s antics. The cabin was filled with contagious laughter. As this would be their last time riding to Hogwarts together, and there was a tinge of sadness that hovered in the air, but they refused to let it dampen their moods.

~

The Marauders were strolling through the darkened hallways, no longer using James’ invisibility cloak as they had their map telling them the areas they needed to avoid. It was well past curfew, and they were trying to find any hidden passages they may have missed in their previous years. 

As they rounded another corner, Amaris peered at the map. She could see Filch’s name on the map headed directly for them from behind. Quickly drawing her wand from the waistband of her sweatpants, Amaris whispered, “Heads up, Filch is coming.” The Marauders quickened their pace, moving as fast as they could without making a sound. “Mischief Managed.” Amaris placed the tip of her wand against the map and the ink disappeared, leaving the parchment perfectly blank. Tucking her wand away once again, they could hear Filch’s loud footsteps gaining on them. 

“Should’ve brought the cloak,” Sirius commented, glancing over his shoulder into the darkness. 

James shook his head. “Little late for that now, isn’t it?”

Filch’s pace quickened, and he was drawing closer to the Marauders. “Who’s there?” Filch called into the darkness. “I can hear you.”

“Run!” Peter whisper-shouted. They all broke out into a sprint, and Filch definitely heard them at the point. He ran as fast as he could to try and catch the misbehaving students. Amaris felt her wand coming loose from its resting place, and before she could grab it, her wand struck the ground and rolled away from her. 

She immediately came to a halt and scanned the floor, trying to see her wand in the darkness. “Shit,” she hissed, not able to see a thing. Remus heard her cursing and against his better judgement, he made his way back to Amaris. “I lost my wand,” Amaris whispered to him as she felt his hand land on her back. Frantically, the pair began searching as Filch closed in on them. The rest of the Marauders were long gone by this point. As soon as Amaris’ hand closed around her wand that had rolled against the wall, Filch was standing in front of them, holding a lantern in her face. 

Filch shifted the lantern to see Remus squinting his eyes against the light. “And just what are you two doing out of bed?” He took in the pair’s disheveled appearance with narrowed eyes. Amaris and Remus glanced at each other frantically. “Inappropriate things, hm?” 

Amaris choked on a laugh, and Remus was immediately flustered by the insinuation. Regaining her composure slightly, Amaris held her hands out. “Mr. Filch, it’s not what it seems like.”

Filch made a disgusted face at the pair. “I’ve heard the rumors of you two disappearing down deserted hallways on multiple occasions. I’ve been waiting for my chance to catch you two . . . What have you got there?” 

In her fit of laughter, Amaris had forgotten she was holding the Marauders Map. Her eyes widened slightly in fear when she realized Filch was eyeing it greedily. “Nothing, sir.” Amaris tried to tuck the parchment away, but it was too late. Filch snatched it out of her hand and opened it. Thankfully she had hidden the contents earlier. “It’s just a piece of parchment as you can see.” Filch flipped the map over a few times as though expecting words to randomly appear. “Can I have my parchment back, sir?”

Quickly, Filch folded it once again and shoved it into his pocket. “Seeing as how you’re so fond of it, I’m going to assume it’s troublesome. I’m keeping it.” Filch stepped forward, grabbing a fistful of Amaris’ sweatshirt. He motioned for Remus to follow along as his other hand was still holding the lantern. “Now, I’m taking you both to Professor McGonagall’s office so she can deal with the likes of you.”

An hour later, Remus and Amaris stumbled back through the portrait hall, consumed by fits of laughter. “ _ I don’t care what kind of relationship the two of you have, but school policies will be followed,” _ Amaris said, imitating McGonagall before breaking out into a fit of giggles. From where the rest of the Marauders had remained in the common room waiting for the pair’s return, they watched them with wide eyes. 

“What happened to you two?” James asked warily, not sure why exactly the pair was still laughing. 

Calming himself, Remus explained that Amaris had lost her wand and about how Filch had confiscated the map. Then they were paraded through the hallways to McGonagall’s office. “Filch convinced her that Amaris and I were snogging in the hallways.”

“For the amount of detention we received this time, I feel as though we should’ve been. Would’ve made the next week worth it.” At Amaris’ words, they broke out into laughter once again. 

~

It was yet another full moon at the castle. Amaris changed into a comfortable pair of sweats and an old muggle tee shirt Lily had given her the year before. Dragging her hair up into a messy bun, Amaris made to leave the room but stopped short when Lily’s voice caught her attention. “And just where are you going?” Lily asked, accusingly. 

Glancing over her shoulder, Amaris offered Lily a half-hearted shrug. “Studying with Remus tonight.” It was a total bluff, and Lily knew it. The redhead glanced to Amaris’ empty hands.

“Without any books?  _ Sure.  _ Have fun  _ studying _ Amaris.” Lily chuckled at Amaris’ red-faced embarrassment. Before it could get any worse, Amaris quickly dipped through the door and dashed through the common room.

In the Marauders’ room, everyone except Remus was excited for a night of gallivanting through the forest, completely free of everything. Remus silently wished he could join in his friend’s excitement, but he couldn’t bring himself to knowing how painful and dangerous his transformations were. He sat on his bed, watching Amaris and Sirius chase each other about the room as canines. Amaris threw herself onto Remus’ lap and quickly disappeared behind him. As he tried to see where she was going, Remus was all but tackled by the shaggy dog. Pinned beneath the panting canine, Remus merely glared up at Sirius, and happily, Amaris trotted across the mattress and gave his face a quick lick. Rolling his eyes, Remus shoved Sirius onto the floor and sat up, pulling Amaris into his lap. His fingers trailed lightly over the patch of missing fur that adorned her right shoulder, the only remnants of Snape’s attack during their fifth year. 

Finally, it was time for him to leave, and he set Amaris on the bed beside him. Sadly, she transformed back into a human and gave him a quick hug. “I’ll see you in a little bit,” she said, reassuringly. Remus gave her a quick kiss before disappearing from the room. Sullenly, Amaris flopped back down onto his bed, letting out a dull groan. 

Sirius gave his sister an exasperated look. “Come on Amaris, you’ll be seeing him again shortly,” he chided. 

Amaris threw her hands back against the mattress. “Yeah, but it’s not him though. I mean, it is, but he isn’t in control. At least his wolf form seems to like me as well.” The three males broke out laughing thinking of how Remus tormented her in his werewolf form as Amaris was a fraction of his size.

The night went as it usually did. The wolf and fox took turns challenging each other as they raced about the castle grounds with James and Sirius joining in. In the morning, they all trudged back to the castle, completely exhausted from the night’s events. Amaris split off from the males, dragging herself up the stairs to her room. Maybe if she was lucky she could get an hour of sleep before having to get ready for classes. Gently opening the door, Amaris prayed Lily was still asleep, and it seemed as though she was in luck. Grateful, Amaris shuffled across the room before collapsing onto her bed and letting her eyes drift shut. 

All too soon, Amaris was waking up to the sounds of Lily shouting at her that she was about to miss breakfast. Groaning and grumbling about how she didn’t care, Amaris rolled over in her bed and threw her pillow over her head. Lily was having none of it though. She quickly yanked Amaris' pillow from the black haired girl's grasp and threw it to the ground. When Amaris still made no move to leave her bed, Lily let an annoyed sound slip past her lips, and she shoved Amaris off her mattress and onto the floor. 

Amaris hit the ground with a loud  _ thump, _ and she rolled over, glaring daggers at her roommate. "What the hell was that for?" she demanded, fuming. 

Lily merely crossed her arms, cocking an eyebrow at Amaris. She was completely unperturbed by the girl’s regular anger. "I told you to get up.” Lily paused, setting her jaw defiantly. “And care to explain why you were out all night again?" 

An annoyed huff escaped Amaris as she sat up, placing her hands on her mattress to haul herself off the ground. "I told you, I was studying with Remus. I fell asleep in their room on accident. That's all."

It was obvious Lily didn’t buy Amaris’ bluff. For what had to be the first time in her life, Amaris shrank back from Lily’s intense, green stare. "It's odd. This always happens once a month.” Amaris stilled. Her breathing came to a halt, and she did everything in her power to keep her face blank. “You come strolling in after being gone for the entire night. It isn't just you,” Lily added, noticing Amaris’ emotionless mask beginning to crack. “I've noticed all of you look like death on the same day each month. That isn't the only thing I've noticed either. So, which of you is it?" 

Amaris quickly busied herself with making her bed, refusing to allow Lily to see her panicked expression that she could no longer hide. "I don't know what you're talking about," she stated blandly, placing her pillow back on the bed.

"It’s Remus, isn’t it?” Amaris wanted to explode. We’re they all really that obvious? First Snape figured everything out, and now Lily. Wait. They had been friends, maybe Snape had said something about his theories before Lily quit talking to him. Lily’s voice pulled Amaris out of her spiraling thoughts. “I'm neither blind nor stupid Amaris. You're always gone on the night of the full moon." Trying to reign her emotions back in, Amaris finally looked at Lily. The redhead could see the burning question in Amaris’ steely eyes. "I noticed it about halfway through fifth year."

Yanking her books of her nightstand, Amaris pushed her way past Lily. "Can we talk about this later, Lily?” Amaris asked desperately. She needed to be out of this room, now. “This isn't my secret to tell. We'll be late for class if we do this right now.” At Lily’s pointed look, Amaris offered a meek, “I promise." 

Classes passed by all too fast for Amaris to be pleased with. She needed more time to think. Lily had continued watching them like a hawk all day. Anytime Amaris could, she would pass a note toward Remus trying to explain that they needed to talk later. When he gave her a panicked look, she quickly reassured him it was nothing about the two of them, not wanting a repeat of last year’s fight. He nodded to her, and as soon as classes were over, the four male Marauders made their way to their room. Lily hung back with Amaris and followed her up to the boys’ room. With a brisk sigh, Amaris motioned for Lily to wait there, and she stepped inside, quickly shutting the door and falling against it. "We have a slight problem," she whispered, taking note of the boys’ concerned expressions.

James cocked his head to the side, questioning, "And what would that be?" 

Running her hands through her hair in exasperation, Amaris replied, "Your girlfriend." James looked bewildered, and the rest of the males didn’t fare much better. "She figured out one of us is a werewolf.” There was a tense silence that fell over the room. “Earlier she guessed it was Remus, but she figured it all out fifth year when she noticed we were always gone as well."

Sirius stood from his bed, moving closer to his twin. "And she hasn't told anyone?" 

“If she did, I'm sure we would've heard the rumors by now," Remus said warily from where he was still perched on the edge of his mattress. 

Amaris’ eyes softened as she looked at her boyfriend. "What do you think Remus? Are you okay with telling her?"

Remus offered them all a weak shrug. "She's basically one of us now, isn't she?” They all nodded in agreement. “If she hasn't told anyone yet, I'm sure we can trust her." Remus had a point. Lily had known something was up for two years now, and she hadn’t told a soul that they knew of. Terrified, Amaris opened the door and beckoned Lily in.

“Secret meeting finally over?” Lily asked, stepping through the open door and moving to stand in the center of the room as Amaris closed the door. Completely on edge, Amaris made her way over to sit beside Remus. She grabbed his hand in his and squeezed it comfortingly. This must’ve been how he had felt back in second year when they told him they’d found out about his furry little problem. 

James motioned for Lily to join him on his bed, and the girl complied after a moment’s hesitation. When she was finally seated, James wrapped a comforting arm around her and rubbed small circles against the small of her back. "I guess the easiest way to do this is answering any questions you have, but first, you need to swear an oath of silence," James told her warily.

Lily gave him an incredulous look. "I haven't told anyone yet, have I?" She sounded offended that they thought she would go tell the entire school their secrets, but she didn’t yet understand just what they had done.

Sirius was now leaning against the door casually, his foot propped against it with his arms folded across his chest. "Merely a formality," he said, hoping to smooth things over. The last thing they needed was Lily mad. 

"Fine, I swear." Lily gave in. When nobody made a move to speak, Lily took advantage of the silence. She glanced over at where Amaris was leaning against Remus, her thumb running circles over the back of his hand. "So, it's you, isn't it Remus?" Amaris felt Remus tense beside her, and the male nodded. He’d expected a worse reaction, but Lily only appeared thoughtful. "When I think about it, it's kind of obvious with your scars.” Remus glanced away, trying to hide his face, ashamed of the marks of his condition. “You were also sick a lot when we first started here. But that doesn't explain why you all are gone on the night of a full moon.” Lily glanced around the room at the remaining Marauders who began shifting uneasily. “There's no way you could be with him without getting mauled." Each and every one of them avoided Lily’s questioning gaze sheepishly. "You're not telling me you risk your lives to be with him?" 

"Well, not exactly," James drawled.

"Werewolves couldn't care less about other animals," Amaris added.

Lily’s expression became befuddled. "But you aren't animals."

It was now Remus’ turn to try and calm Amaris down. This was it, the moment their secret would be out. "Lily . . .” Amaris began, pausing to worry her bottom lip nervously as she tried to buy some time. “This might be a lot for you to take in . . ."

Sirius pushed himself off the wall and sidled across the room to flop down on his mattress, facing James and Lily. "It’s also why we swore you to secrecy, but considering you're currently dating one of us . . ." He pointed to James, and Lily could feel the panic beginning to rise within her.  _ One of us _ . It was like they were speaking of some secret cult, and she was trying to work through everything to the best of her ability.

James could sense the shift in his girlfriend’s demeanor, and he pulled away from her slightly so he could meet her gaze. Not once breaking eye contact with her, he said flatly, "We're Animagi."

Lily couldn’t believe it. She quickly rose from where she sat and began pacing frantically in the center of the room. The Marauders did nothing but watch as she tried to work through things on her own. "There’s no way,” she said finally, pausing to stare wildly at James before glancing at the remaining three. “You're only students still." 

Nonchalantly, Sirius shrugged. "Only one way to prove it then. Prongs?” He glanced mischievously at James. “I think you should go first." 

"Prongs? What does he mean Prongs?” Lily asked, rounding on James who was now standing from the bed.

Sirius smirked knowingly before telling her, “You’ll understand in a second.”

They all sat in silence as a large stag was now standing in James’ place. “Merlin's beard," Lily whispered, awestruck. Warily, she stepped forward, running a hand over James’ back. "When did this happen?" 

"We started during third year," Amaris replied, happily. This was going way better than she had expected.

Lily’s eyes widened in realization, and she glanced directly at Amaris. "That's why you were acting so shady in the room all the time!"

Chuckling, Amaris nodded. “You actually caused me to ruin my potion once.”

Lily glanced down sheepishly, apologizing. Excitedly, she pulled her head back up and glanced around at the other three. "So, what are the rest of you?" Laughing now, the rest of the Marauders transformed, and Lily went around examining every one of them. When she was done, everyone but Amaris returned back to normal. Remaining as a fox, Amaris jumped up into Remus’ lap and quickly rolled over. 

Remus merely stared down at the fox’s white belly with a deadpan expression before shoving her off his lap. Amaris hit the floor and her brown eyes bored into Remus, clearly spelling betrayal. Across the room, Lily was watching them curiously. “Vixen, we’ve covered this already, many times actually. I will not rub your belly.” Now that Lily was in on the secret, they slipped back into the comfort of using their nicknames once again.

The usual black haired girl replaced the fox, and she folded her arms across her chest with a huff. “You’re so mean to me, Moony.” Remus cocked an eyebrow at her expectantly. “I’d be kind enough to rub your stomach for you if you asked.”

“Sure you would,” Remus said, not believing a word of what she said. 

Amaris grinned at him, a sly glint in her eyes. “Is that a challenge I hear, Moony?”

The other four Gryffindors in the room were watching them now. Three of them were rolling their eyes at the pairs antics, completely used to it by now. Lily, on the other hand was watching with unhindered curiosity. “Don’t you dare, Vix.”

Cackling, Amaris launched herself at Remus, trying her best to get at his stomach as Remus fought against her. “Come on Moony, just accept it!”

Finally, Lily turned to face James. “Prongs, Moony, Vixen, do you all have nicknames like that?” James nodded to her and told her about Padfoot and Wormtail. Lily shook her head as Amaris and Remus continued yelling in the background. “It’s like I’m seeing you all in an entirely different light.” With one last look at Remus who was now pinned to the bed being tortured by Amaris’ affections, Lily said, “I can see why he put up with you all through everything now. You’ve all been so good to him, and you’re actually really good friends. I’m sorry for everything I called you.”

~

Five months had already flown by, and Amaris, Remus, James, and Lily were holed up in the boys’ room, noses buried deep in their textbooks. Their NEWTs were approaching faster than they’d hoped and they were extremely overloaded with schoolwork already. Exasperated, Amaris threw her textbook off to the side. “I can’t take it anymore,” she grumbled, hands rubbing harshly against her eyes. “You’d think after all the advanced magic I’ve already managed to complete this would be easy for me, but no. I’m losing my mind with all these damned essays.” Dramatically, Amaris threw herself to the ground, looking over at Remus who didn’t even spare her a single glance. 

“Become an Animagus by the age of fifteen, and suddenly studying magic should be easy?” Remus chided, still scribbling away at his own essay. 

Amaris’ face pulled into a pout. “And I also helped make the map. I also scored outstanding on the OWLs that actually matter.”

Lily glanced up from her essay, watching Amaris wallow on the floor in feigned anguish. “You know, they’re called  Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests for a reason. They aren’t meant to be easy.”

“You could always follow your brother’s wonderful study habits,” James offered, flipping the page of his textbook idly. 

At this, Amaris lifted her head off the ground to quirk a single eyebrow at James. “What, open my textbook, immediately shut it, then run off to flirt with anything that has a pulse?” She glanced at Remus who was now watching her from the corner of his eye. “I don’t think Moony here would be too fond of that plan. And besides, I happen to know that Sirius secretly studies while the rest of you sleep.” This caught everyone’s attention finally. Smirking, Amaris let her head fall back against the floor. “He doesn’t want to lose his  _ cool _ status, so he pretends to not care, but in reality, he studies just as much as we do.” 

Content, they all filed this information away in their minds, saving it to torment Sirius later. Surely Sirius would chase his sister across the school grounds to get his hands on her after spilling his secrets, but Amaris didn’t care. She was going stir crazy and needed to find some way to amuse herself now.

~

Yesterday was their last NEWT exam, and The Marauders were wandering the halls for what would be one of their last times. Wistfully, they recalled all the great times they had wreaking havoc in the castle. As much as they hated to admit it, they would miss the familiar halls they’d come to know as their home for the last seven years. A shrill voice cut through their walk down memory lane. “You six,” McGonagall called.

Immediately Amaris whirled around, hands up in a sign of innocence. “Whatever it was Professor, we didn’t do it.”

Professor McGonagall look suspiciously at Amaris for a moment. “As much as your statement leads me to think you’re _once again_ up to no good, I’m not here to punish you for anything. Professor Dumbledore has requested your presence in his office.” The six students exchanged wide-eyed looks before following their Head of House to Dumbledore's office. She led them past the gargoyle that stood watch over the staircase that led them into the Headmaster’s office. 

The six students filed in nervously, standing stock still in front of Dumbledore’s desk. This was by no means the first time they’d been in Dumbledore’s office and in certain cases, the reasons for being here weren’t exactly pleasant. Dumbledore sensed their unease and smiled merrily at the Gryffindor students. “You’re not in any trouble,” he said easily, his eyes twinkling with humor. “You can all relax.” All of the tension visibly drained from the students as Dumbledore reassured them. Dumbledore glanced at the twins. “Before I start with the main reason why I called you all to speak with me, Amaris, Sirius, there is a personal matter I wish to discuss with the two of you. If you don’t mind your peers being present, we can quickly get through it though.”

Quickly, both Amaris and Sirius shook their heads, signaling they didn’t care about their friends hearing. To be honest, they’d probably wind up telling them all later anyway. “Very well, earlier this year, your Uncle Alphard passed away.” Neither Sirius nor Amaris had heard of his passing, and both were surprised. Amaris sidled closer to Remus who stood beside her, and not caring who was watching, she grasped his hand for support. Their uncle was one of the only family members the twins liked. They hadn’t been close or anything, but he was the only sane one they knew. Not missing a thing, Dumbledore saw the teens’ clasped hands and smiled lightly. Not commenting on it, he carried on. “In his will, he left his fortune to the two of you. You can find it at Gringotts Bank, and I suggest you use it wisely.”

Both of the twin’s heads were spinning. Their uncle had left them with his fortune? Now they could get a place of their own and support themselves without ever having to deal with their family again. Secretly, the pair was absolutely elated. “Now that that’s out of the way, James, Lily, and Amaris, I heard you’re wanting to become Aurors when you get out of school?”

“Yes, Sir,” they all replied in unison. 

Dumbledore scanned over the remaining three students in the room. “Do any of you share their interest?” Remus, Sirius, and Peter nodded mutely. Remus was curious where this was going. He knew he stood no chance of ever becoming an Auror, so why had he been called here? “Even if for whatever reason you may not be able to fulfill that career’s requirements?” Dumbledore’s eyes settled on Remus knowingly. Once again, they nodded. Dumbledore stood from his chair. “Excellent.” The students watched curiously as Dumbledore milled about his office.

“Knowing that, I have full faith in letting you six know about a secret organization that has been formed to combat the Dark Lord’s rise and his followers.” There was a harsh gleam in Sirius, Amaris, and James’ eyes. They were all chomping at the bit to get their hands on Dark Wizards by this point, and this was their way to do so. “Each of you possesses exceptional talent whether you believe it or not. I believe you would do well with us if you wish to join the Order.”

Beside Amaris, Remus was rightfully intrigued, but he wasn’t completely sold on the idea of joining a secret organization quite yet. “What will we be doing if we join?” he asked. There was no way they’d be safe if they joined, and Remus knew it. 

Dumbledore merely confirmed the werewolf’s suspicions. “Anything that’s necessary.” They all fell into silence as they let Dumbledore’s words sink in. The reckless ones of the group were all for having to do anything to achieve their means, but not everyone was so willing to jump to their decision. “None of you need to make a decision right away, but instead, I wanted to offer an invitation before you left the grounds.” Dumbledore took in the mix of wary and excited expressions on the students’ faces from where he stood by his window. 

“I want to join.” The bold statement had Remus’ head snapping to face Amaris. Secretly, he’d known she was going to, but he couldn’t still the worry that raged inside him. What if something happened to her because she accepted this offer?

Dumbledore moved to stand before Amaris. His eyes stared into hers intently, searching them for any trace of uncertainty. “Miss Black, are you quite sure?” he asked, finding only pure determination in her grey eyes.

Amaris nodded quickly. “More than I’ve ever been about anything.” She paused for a moment, her mind filled with thoughts of thwarting her family’s plans and finally being able to put them in their rightful place. “As long as I can still pursue becoming an Auror.” Dumbledore nodded in confirmation, and Amaris was completely sold.

James took a small step forward. Lily glanced at him the same way Remus had been watching Amaris. She was full of the same worries and fears as the werewolf was, but like Amaris, there would be no changing James’ mind. “I want to do it too.” The twinkle that was ever present in Dumbledore’s knowing eyes shone brighter than ever. 

Quietly, Sirius had been thinking along the same lines as Amaris. This was his ultimate revenge against his family for everything they’d put him and his sister through. There wasn’t a chance he would turn down such an opportunity. “Count me in as well.”

There was a long, resolute sigh from beside Amaris. “I suppose that means I’ll be joining along with them.” Surprised, Amaris peered carefully at Remus. She was sure he would’ve needed more convincing, and from the look on Dumbledore’s face, he’d thought the same. “Somebody needs to keep an eye on those three.”

“Where James goes, I go with him.”

“Well, if you’re all joining, I’ll come along too.”

All six of the students had made up their minds already. In all honesty, Dumbledore had been expecting this outcome, but he’d never reveal that fact to the teens. Instead, he faced them and met each of their stares with an intense one of his own. “You’re all completely sure about this?” There were six nods of confirmation. “Wonderful. Either myself of Professor McGonagall will be in contact with you soon.” Surprised, they spun to face their Transfiguration teacher who was still lurking in the back of the office. This entire time McGonagall had been a part of a secret organization? Maybe that’s why she wasn’t as hard on them as she should have been.

With that, the students were dismissed, and McGonagall ushered them out of the office. Once they were by themselves, Amaris let out a happy sound. “This is awesome!” she called, throwing her hands in the air, which in turn lifted one of Remus’ as well. “It looks like the Marauders will be together once again after school. This means we don’t truly have to say goodbye to one another.” This statement was met by sounds of approval and excitement. 

Sirius quickly grinned at his twin. “So, sis, we now have a lot of money to our names. What shall we do with it first?”

Giving Remus’ hand a squeeze, she beamed at her brother. “Get a home, of course.”


	9. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the last chapter. By the time I post this, the next part of the series should be out. It's called A Time for Healing, so be sure to look for that to continue the adventures of Amaris.
> 
> I honestly hated myself while writing this chapter out, so please, please don't hate me as well. I didn't even want to reread it to edit it out before posting...

They were officially free. They no longer had to deal with boring classes, stifling rules, or even the prying eyes of Severus Snape anymore. Even though the group was now split up, the Marauders still remained in contact as they had promised they would. James and Lily were living together in Godric’s Hollow, and not too far from them, Sirius and Amaris had found a small home to call their own. Using their Uncle Alphard’s fortune, they’d purchased the house and quickly made it their own. Everything in the house was brightly painted and covered in moving photographs of the Marauders and Sirius even hung some muggle posters on the wall. 

The twins were thoroughly enjoying their newfound freedom. 

Shortly after they were finally settled into their new house, Amaris quickly wrote to Remus. She extended an invitation for him to come stay with the two of them. When they’d purchased the home, they had made sure there was a secure basement just in case Remus moved in. They’d be able to fortify it with spells and charms to make sure that he wouldn’t be able to escape. Plus, if they would spend the night of the full moon with him, everything should go without a hitch. 

Amaris had been  _ patiently _ awaiting Remus’ response, but a few days passed, and she still hadn’t heard from him.  _ Maybe he’s just busy, _ she thought to herself, scrubbing the dishes by hand to try and distract herself.  _ Surely he wouldn’t just ditch me now that we’re out of school. _ Another two miserable days went by, and finally, a small barn owl flew through the open window in the kitchen. It landed in front of Amaris’ breakfast and quickly, she untied the letter that was tied around its leg. 

Leaning back in her chair, Amaris stared at her name written in the familiar scrawl that belonged to Remus. As she opened the letter, the owl that was still perched on the table began stealing food from her plate. Reading Remus’ response, she couldn’t care less.  _ My Dear Vixen,  _ she read.  _ I’m sorry I took so long to get back to you. I was helping my father with his work and didn’t have a chance to write until now. So, you two plan on locking me in the basement once a month just because you can? I shouldn’t have expected any differently from either of you. But, yes, I’d love to come stay with you. Would the second Saturday of this month be okay for me to arrive? I need to finish things up with my father here, and if I hear from you, I’ll be there soon. Hope to hear from you before then. Yours, Moony. _

Amaris let out an excited squeal and rose from her chair so quickly, it all but fell over in the kitchen. She spun on her heel to retrieve a piece of parchment and her quill, and she almost slammed into her brother. Sirius quirked an eyebrow down at Amaris. “I take it that means Moony is going to be here soon?”

With a smile, Amaris scooted around Sirius’ form and rushed out of the room, calling, “This Saturday,” over her shoulder. As soon as she’d written her response, she attached it to the owl’s leg and watched as it flew back through the kitchen window. 

Stealing a piece of uneaten bacon from his sister’s plate, Sirius smiled coyly at his twin. “I guess that means we should get to work on the basement.”

Sure enough, that Saturday, Remus arrived at their small home and life settled into an easy pattern for the three of them.

~

Amaris had begun her training at the Ministry to become an Auror, Sirius was throwing himself into the Order, and Remus was trying to find whatever job he could get. Things had been a little hectic as everyone was in and out of the house at different times. Occasionally they would get days that they could do nothing, and today was one of those days. It was a lazy Saturday as nobody had work that day, and careful to not wake her boyfriend, Amaris slipped out of the comfort of their bed. Throwing on one of Remus’ oversized shirts and a pair of shorts, Amaris tied her hair back in a bun as she made her way down to the kitchen. 

Turning on the muggle radio she’d picked up at some random thrift store she’d stumbled into, she began making breakfast. She easily hummed along to some rock song that quietly played through the speaker. Thank Merlin Remus had been around to show her how to work it as both she and Sirius were useless when it came to understanding anything from the muggle world. Over time, Amaris had become fond of cooking, and in the beginning, she was absolutely dreadful at it. She managed to burn things that she didn’t even know could burn, but now, she was able to successfully make most meals. She was currently swaying in front of the stove, frying eggs and bacon for herself and the two sleeping males. 

She was so caught up in the music that she didn’t realize Remus was crossing the kitchen toward her. As two arms wound their way around her waist, Amaris spun in his grasp, wielding her spatula as a weapon. Realizing who it was, she gave Remus an annoyed look. “I told you not to sneak up on me like that,” she scolded him lightly. 

Remus glanced down at Amaris, thoroughly amused. He was now almost a foot taller than her, and this left Amaris glaring up at him. “But it’s just so fun to see your reaction,” he responded, chuckling. 

Rolling her eyes, Amaris spun back around, still wrapped in Remus’ embrace. Tending to the food that was still cooking, she snidely remarked, “Well, if you want me to keep making breakfast, I’d suggest not scaring me every single time I do.” 

Remus leaned down, giving Amaris a soft kiss on the exposed skin of her neck. He’d never admit it to her, but the werewolf loved when Amaris lounged around the house in his shirts. Flipping the bacon before it burned, Amaris craned her neck so Remus could press a quick kiss to her lips. They were interrupted by a disgusted noise floating through the kitchen. “Can never get a moment of peace, can we?” Amaris muttered against against Remus’ lips. He smiled before pulling away, and the pair glanced back at the still bedraggled appearance of Sirius. 

Giving them an odd look, Sirius shuffled over to the table, claiming one of the chairs. “Would you two save it for the bedroom?” he asked, falling into the chair. 

Amaris shook her head as she doled out the food onto three plates and placed the soiled dishes into the sink. “It’s barely past ten,” Amaris said, glancing at the small clock that hung on the wall. “What are you even doing up?”

“I smelled food,” Sirius replied with a grin as his sister set his plate on the table. She made an annoyed noise as she sat down beside Remus. Typical Sirius, only making an appearance when he wanted something. 

~

It was early 1979 now, and the few people that had been invited to celebrate James’ and Lily’s marriage in the midst of the war were milling about the beautifully decorated room. Amaris had made her way over to congratulate the happy couple, and Sirius sidled up beside Remus, a glass of whiskey in his grasp. He motioned to where his sister was beaming happily at Lily, enveloping the redhead in a bear hug. “So, when are you going to ask her?” 

Wide-eyed, Remus stared blankly at Sirius. Remus sputtered wildly for a moment, not sure what to say. “I-I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it much.” That was a complete lie. Remus has been mulling over the idea of asking Amaris to marry him for a while now, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask her. He was afraid of what that would mean for her future. If they merely remained dating, she wouldn’t be tied to a werewolf and could do as she pleased, and Remus wasn’t ready to take that from her yet. 

Nothing ever managed to slip past Sirius though. “Don’t give me that crap,” Sirius demanded. “I know you carry your mother’s ring with you waiting for the right moment.” It was true. Ever since his mother had passed away recently, Remus always carried the wedding ring Lyall had given to him saying Remus better give it to Amaris one day. “So, what’s stopping you? You know she’d say yes in a heartbeat.”

Remus reached into the hidden pocket of his suit jacket, fingers brushing the small box that rested there. He let out a small sigh. “I don’t want to mess with her future. As you’ve seen, I can’t hold down a job for long, and I can’t put Amaris through that.” 

Steel grey eyes bored into Remus. “You’ve been dating for four years now. Obviously she doesn’t care about that.”

“We’ve only been dating. She can still leave if she needs to. If we get married, that’s not as easy to do.”

A single hand came to rest on Remus’ shoulder. “Still just as dense as you used to be. Hopefully one day you’ll realize my sister doesn’t care about anything in the world aside from being happy, and that involves being with you.” 

Their conversation was cut short as Amaris came strolling back over to where they stood. Her eyes twinkled with curiosity. “And just what are you two talking about, looming sullenly at the edge of such a wonderful celebration?” 

Remus withdrew his hand from his jacket, leaving the small box in its place. “Nothing,” he said quickly. “Just that we can’t believe Lily actually said yes to marrying Potter.”

Sirius threw Remus a reprimanding look before letting the topic of his relationship with Amaris drop. 

~

A little over two years after their wedding, three of the Marauders were all stuffed into the Potter’s small living room as Lily and James, looking exhausted, sat across from them. On the small loveseat, Amaris was practically sitting on Remus’ lap to try and make room for the three of them. Sirius on the other hand was taking up as much room as possible as he usually did. Amaris was idly running her fingers through Remus’ now almost shoulder length sandy hair as she watched James lean over and whisper something to Lily. Lily pulled back with a smile and a nod before she stood from the couch and disappeared from the room. The three Marauders watched her go before Remus turned to face James. “So, how have things been?”

“Exhausting,” James replied with a smile. “I can’t wait until Harry sleeps through the night. I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”

Soon, Lily reappeared in the room, holding a small bundle of blankets in her arms. She beamed at the three on the couch before making her way over to them. “I guess it’s time you get to meet Harry James Potter.” Lily held out the bundle toward them, revealing the month old baby that was swaddled inside. 

Amaris watched curiously as the baby blinked up at them. “He’s so small.” In all her years, Amaris had never really been around small children, let alone babies. She wasn’t exactly sure what to do with the tiny human that was being presented to her. 

Lily, completely aware of this fact and slightly enjoying how awkwardly Amaris was staring at Harry, held the baby toward her. “Why don’t you hold him, Amaris?”

The twin was utterly startled, not even knowing where to begin. “Oh, I uh, I don’t know-” Before she knew it, Harry was thrust gently into her arms, and she was stuck holding the child. After a few long moments of being terrified she was going to somehow break Harry, Amaris relaxed and came to enjoy having the child in her arms. A small noise of surprise escaped Amaris as Harry reached upward, entangling his tiny fist in a loose strand of black curls. Beside the pair, Remus was watching Amaris intently, wishing that one day they would be able to have that together. Due to his ailment though, Remus wasn’t sure they ever could. He would never want to risk passing this curse onto his own child. That fact didn't stop the way his heart swelled at the sight of Amaris' smile and laughter at the child's antics. 

Positive Amaris would be able to handle Harry fine now, Lily moved to sit back down beside James. “Seems like he’s taken a liking to you for some reason,” she commented, watching as Amaris battled the small baby to regain control of her hair once again. 

When she’d finally managed to unwind his hand from her curls, Amaris glanced down at the baby’s wonderfully elated face. “Well, he is rather adorable, I guess.” Amaris smirked up at his parents. “Rather odd considering who his parents are. Think he’s going to grow up to be like you, or James?”

Lily was silent for a moment. “Secretly, I’m hoping he takes after me.” This earned Lily a small nudge in the side from her husband. “I don’t think the world can handle another James running amok.” Lily smiled at James who merely shrugged at her words. He wouldn’t know how to handle it if Harry got into as much trouble as they had growing up. “So, Amaris, Sirius, there’s something we wanted to ask you two.” The twins glanced curiously at each other, wondering if they were about to be in trouble for something they surely managed to do. “James and I have talked a lot about this recently, and we decided that we wanted you and Sirius to be his godparents.”

Sirius immediately accepted the offer, excited to teach Harry all sorts of mischief and ways to get under his parents’ skin when he got older. On the other hand, Amaris was more cautious about the offer. “Oh. Lily, I’m honored, but as all of us present know, I can barely even take care of myself.”

The redhead gave Amaris a deadpan look. “Come now, you’re an Auror for Merlin’s sake. You’ve proven yourself quite capable,” Lily trailed off for a moment, a somber expression coming over her features. She thought of the war, and the overwhelming fact of their role in the war. “And well, should something happen to James and I, we trust the two of you to take care of Harry. It also helps knowing Remus will be around to make sure nothing crazy would happen.” The couple gave Remus a knowing smirk. There was no way he would ever let the twins run amok with their son. “Aside from that, it would be weird not having you three as a part of his life.”

The words weighed heavily on Amaris. Images of a small child that resembled James running around the house as they all taught him everything they knew flitted through Amaris’ mind. “Alright, alright. I’ll do it.” She smiled down at the baby still cradled in her arms. “I can’t promise you I won’t teach him a multitude of hexes and how to sneak around Hogwarts when he finally starts school.” Harry let out a jubilant giggle. “I’m gonna teach you everything I know, Harry,” she cooed at him. 

Lily gave an exasperated sigh. “As much as I wished you wouldn’t, I didn’t expect it to be any other way.”

~

Amaris and Remus sat at the kitchen table, both nervously awaiting Sirius’ return. He’d run off on some business for the Order and hadn’t given either of them an inkling on what was going on. Sirius had merely uttered an excuse and dashed out the door. This left the bewildered couple to do nothing but anxiously await some form of news. When the flash of green flames appeared in the fireplace, they knew it wasn’t Sirius as he would’ve just disapparated home. One of Amaris’ fellow Aurors stepped through the flames into the foyer, and the pair rushed toward the room to see what was going on. 

Amaris’ heart dropped when she saw the man. Something was very wrong. “I’m sorry to barge in on you like this Black, but there’s been an incident and we need your help,” he said flatly. The man gave a nod of acknowledgement to Lupin before focusing once more on Amaris. 

Mind racing, Amaris began to panic. Sirius still hadn’t returned, and now an Auror was standing in her foyer asking for her help. “What happened?” she croaked, not sure she wanted to hear the answer.

The man cast a sidelong look at Remus once again. “There’s been two murders tonight, and witnesses placed your brother at the scene of the crime.”

Everything around Amaris was spinning. Her legs threatened to give way beneath her, but she remained standing. “You want me to find him and bring him in,” she said, knowing exactly what the Ministry wanted. They were going to use her to get their hands on Sirius. 

The man nodded. “Send word if you find anything. I’d suggest you leave soon.” With that, green flames erupted in the fireplace once again, and the Auror stepped into them, disappearing from their sight. In a flash, Amaris vanished from the room as well, leaving Remus standing in the middle of the room by himself. He couldn’t believe what he’d heard. Suddenly, Amaris was in front of him once again, tucking her wand into her long, black coat.

"I'm sorry Remus, but I have to go find him before they do.” When Remus gave her a questioning look, she said, “I’m sorry, I know as much as you do, but there’s no way Sirius murdered anybody. I know my brother, and you do too. He can be naive and reckless, but he’s no murderer.”

Unwilling to stand in her way, Remus nodded solemnly at her. "Its okay Amaris. I understand.” He grabbed both of her hands in his, pulling her in for a quick kiss. “Just please, be safe."

Amaris tried to give him her signature grin, but it came out all wrong. "When am I not?" 

Sighing, Remus pulled her into a hug. "That only makes me worry more."

Amaris gave him a tight squeeze before pulling away from the werewolf. "I’ll be fine Remus. Promise. I love you." She gave him an endearing smile and stepped away from him. 

"I love you too, Amaris." Remus watched as Amaris disappeared through their front door. Had Remus known those were the last words he'd speak to Amaris, he would've said so much more. 

Amaris had spent the last two days searching everywhere for Sirius. The first place she’d gone to look was at James and Lily’s house. When she’d found the place crawling with Aurors, she felt like she’d been punched in the stomach. She had yet to be informed that they were the two murders Sirius was being investigated for. After figuring this out, her world began collapsing around her further. She needed to find Sirius as soon as possible. He couldn’t have done this, not to Prongs and his wife. Amaris had immediately disapparated away from the scene and appeared on Peter’s front lawn. 

The home was completely empty as well. “What the hell is going on here?” Frustrated, Amaris began traveling anywhere she could go. She barely slept or even ate in her desperate search for her friends. Just as she was about to give up on her third night of searching, the familiar voice of her brother floated through the night toward her.

Amaris froze on the sidewalk, cocking her head to the side to listen. Maybe she’d just been hearing things. What would Sirius be doing all the way out here? “How could you?!” Sirius’ voice rang in Amaris’ ears. She took off in a sprint toward the source of his voice. “You did this! You gave them away Peter, and I’m going to make you pay!”

Amaris rounded a corner, hoping to see her brother and Peter standing there, but the street was empty. From the next road over, there was a loud explosion and a bright flash of light. Ripping her wand free from her robes, Amaris disapparated to the source of the explosion.“Sirius!” she called out, seeing her brother standing in the street, his wand pointed directly at her. She held her free hand up, keeping the tip of her wand trained on her brother. “What happened here?” Amaris glanced down the street, finally noticing the horrendous amount of lifeless bodies littering the sidewalk. “What did you do, Sirius?” Grey eyes wide, she glanced over to see Sirius staring at the bodies.

The familiar grey eyes settled back on Amaris. “I didn’t do this ‘Maris.” He paused, throwing his left hand toward the carnage. “You’ve gotta believe me, it was Peter. I wouldn’t”

Thoughts raced through the Auror’s mind. She refused to believe her brother could kill this many people. If he said it was Peter, she trusted him, especially considering she’d heard Sirius confronting the rat. “I know, trust me, Sirius. I just need you to lower your wand, okay?” Amaris' voice quaked with emotion. Everything was quickly becoming too overwhelming for her to handle. Wildly, Sirius shook his head at her. He wasn’t going to be left defenseless. Sirius obviously knew his sister was an Auror, and he figured they’d sent her to retrieve him. The Ministry would capitalize on their mutual trust of one another. “We’ll get this sorted out, I promise.” It was almost as though Amaris knew what Sirius was thinking. “Look.” Slowly, Amaris raised her own wand at her brother and made a show of tucking it away into her coat. She then showed her empty hands to her brother, and finally, he lowered his wand.

As he did this, Sirius finally broke. His hand rubbed harshly over his features, trying to contain himself. “‘Maris, Peter, he got them killed. Prongs. Lily,” Sirius’ voice was nothing more than a whisper, and Amaris’ heart ached for him. 

“Come on Sirius, let’s get you home and calmed down, then I’ll take you into the Ministry, and you can tell them what happened.” This seemed to placate Sirius, and finally, Amaris took a few steps toward her brother. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you.” Before Amaris could get her hand on Sirius and disapparate them back to their house, there was a loud crack, and the pair were no longer alone. 

“Well, I should’ve known,” the same Auror that had arrived at their house a few days ago stood in front of the twins. His wand was trained on the two of them, a malicious smirk on his features. “You two always do everything together, so why not murder as well? I never did trust you Black.” The man gave Amaris a quick once over, his eyes spelling disgust. "You better have a damned good reason for not alerting us that you'd found him."

Amaris shook her head, trying to get a single hand on Sirius, but as soon as she moved, the wand was pointed at her face. “This isn’t what it looks like, you need to listen to him.”

The Auror shook his head, and quickly, he disarmed Sirius who was still holding his wand limply at his side. As the twins were quickly bound by magical ropes, there was a series of violent cracking sounds as more Aurors finally arrived on the scene. As they milled about the scene, giving the dead muggles a quick once over, Sirius soon became incoherent once again. His shouts about Peter being a traitor rang throughout the night. Amaris could do nothing but watch from where she was forced to kneel on the ground by her superior. Warm tears spilled over as Sirius fell silent, two Aurors grabbing him by the shoulders. “Best say your goodbyes. It’ll be Azkaban for you,” the female Auror beside Sirius said. The bound wizard merely glanced up at her and let out a single, humorless laugh. He knew it was over for him, and in an instant, Sirius was taken away, leaving Amaris alone in the street with the Aurors. 

When Remus heard someone approaching the front door, his heart leapt into his throat, and rushed to open it. He hadn’t heard from Amaris in days, and after being notified of the Potter’s recent deaths, he was losing his mind waiting for her return. "Amaris-" 

As the door swung open, Remus wasn’t met by the tackling hug of Amaris, but instead a burly man. "Ah, Mr. Lupin I presume?" The man eyed Remus carefully before his gaze slid over the werewolf’s shoulder into the home. 

Remus shifted to try and block the man’s access to the house. "What's going on?" Remus demanded. 

Beady brown eyes made their way back to Remus. "That's what we're here to find out,” came the blunt reply. Remus’ mind was swirling. Had something happened to Amaris and Sirius? This had to be related to the Potters. “Have you had any recent contact with either Sirius or Amaris Black?" Remus felt his heart stop. Something  _ had  _ happened. 

Fighting back every question he wanted to throw at the Auror, Remus simply said, "No, I haven't."

"What about Peter Pettigrew?" 

The werewolf was taken aback. How was Peter related to any of this? "No." 

There was a look of understanding in the Auror’s face. "I take it you haven't been informed yet then.” He paused for a moment before stating, “Peter Pettigrew was killed earlier tonight. We apprehended both Black twins at the scene of the crime. Sirius Black is being convicted of the murder of Peter Pettigrew and 12 muggles. We're still looking into what role his sister played in the murders. Do you mind if we search the home as we know you've been residing here with them?" It took the entirety of Remus’ willpower to not slam the door in the man’s face, shouting that he was a liar. Amaris would never. Sirius, maybe; he had almost led Snape to his death years ago, but Amaris? Nodding, Remus allowed the Auror inside and moved to collapse onto the couch in the foyer. He couldn’t believe any of this. In a span of only a few days, he’d lost everyone that had ever meant something to him. 

~

Amaris sat curled against the wall in the pitch black room she’d been confined to for the last four months. In reality, Amaris had no clue how much time had passed. There was no way for her to tell the passage of time as meals were given to her sporadically, and there was no way to see out of her room aside from the occasional time the door would open. The only thing that was still keeping her going was the thought of being able to finally escape this hell and collapse into Remus’ arms. The woman that came around to interrogate her often had already informed her that Sirius had been sent to Azkaban for life. This left Amaris with only one person left in this world: Remus. 

The only door in and out of the room creaked open, and a dull beam of light filtered through the opening. The familiar, short, stout form of the woman she’d come to hate so viciously came into view. As a precaution, the Ministry Official never brought her wand into the room, worried Amaris would get her hands on it and use it against her. This meant she settled with using a lantern to illuminate the room on her visits. Shutting the door behind her, the woman called the ever-changing password through the door for the guard outside to replace the charms that kept Amaris locked in here. Setting the lantern on the table, the toadlike woman occupied the only chair and glanced down at Amaris with a maliciously pleasant look in her eyes. "Miss Black, always a pleasure to see you," she cooed, her tone dripping with false warmth. 

Amaris turned her back to the woman, curling further in on herself. She knew what was coming, and she wouldn’t give the woman the pleasure of feeling victorious. "Wish I could say the same to you,” Amaris spat, glaring at her grimy hands. It wasn’t often they allowed her to clean up, and Amaris couldn’t recall the last time they had. “Can we just get this over with already? You come in, torture me for information and get the same answers you've always received every single time you come visit me.” Amaris peered at the woman over her shoulder, grey eyes crazed. “Crazy, isn't it? Almost like I'm telling the truth. I had nothing to do with those murders and neither did my brother."

The woman was unfazed by Amaris’ words. Truthfully, there wasn’t anything Amaris could do to get under her skin. In the beginning of her imprisonment, Amaris had tried everything she could, but nothing had ever worked. "Now, now Miss Black. We both know that is still yet to be proven. You were found at the scene of the crime along with Sirius Black. All those poor muggles you two killed, and what about Peter Pettigrew?"

Uncurling herself, Amaris stood on weak legs. She took an unsteady step toward the table. "Why don’t you just send me off to Azkaban with him then? You don’t listen to the truth obviously, so might as well just end this already." 

The woman gave her a sickly sweet smile. In the dull light, her face looked horrendous with the dark shadows falling across her features. "All in due time dear. You’ll get your wish soon enough, but first we need to find out just exactly what happened.” The woman paused, knowing exactly what to say to break Amaris down further. “Your brother was far too dangerous to question so we had to send him away immediately. You’re much less of a threat, so you’re who we need answers from. Now, where were we last time we spoke?" 

An indeterminable amount of time had passed to Amaris, but on the outside world, it had been another two months. Amaris was laying on the filthy floor, staring into the nothingness the dark offered as she flipped through the memories she’d formed with James, Lily, Remus, and Sirius. Her ears twitched as she heard the familiar sound of voices on the other side of the door. Quickly, she scrambled across the floor, retreating into her corner. She’d recently been visited by the woman Amaris had come to call The Wretched Toad, and it was too soon for another session with her. Sure enough, the door let out an echoing screech and instead of the dull lantern light she’d become so accustomed to, a bright white light filled the room. The blinding light from a wand left Amaris blinking and shielding her face from it.

“I’m sorry dear,” an all too familiar voice filled the room. The man lowered his wand and held it behind him, lessening its effect. 

Blinking away the spots that clouded her vision, Amaris met the sullen stare of her old Headmaster. "Dumbledore?” She glanced around searching for the Toad. “What are you-? Where's the wench?" 

Dumbledore took a small step toward Amaris, but paused when she pressed herself closer to the stone wall. "I've had some words with the Ministry. Seeing as they've held you for months now and your story hasn't changed, there will be no further need to keep you here.” Slowly, Dumbledore approached Amaris as though he was nearing a wild animal he didn’t want to startle. “Seeing as they can’t find anything to charge you with, you'll be leaving with me Amaris." Dumbledore extended a hand down to the girl who merely stared at it, utterly bewildered.

Suspicion crossed her features as she glanced between the man’s face and his offered hand. "This isn't real,” she spat. “It has to be another trick."

Dumbledore shook his head. "No tricks, Amaris. We best hurry out of here before they change their minds." Shakily, Amaris finally reached out, grasping Dumbledore’s hand weakly. He hauled her off the ground and together, they made their way out of the room she’d become all too familiar with the last few months. As she was paraded through the Ministry, Amaris blandly ignored the disgusted looks she received. Whether it was the fact she hadn’t been able to properly shower in months or the fact they thought she was a murderer, Amaris would never know. Nor did she care. Finally, they reached the outside world once again, and Amaris wanted to retreat back into darkness when she was faced with the bright light and deafening sounds. Sympathetically, Dumbledore peered down at her malnourished form. "Shall I escort you home?" 

Amaris nodded quickly. "Please." Amaris held onto Dumbledore as tightly as possible as he disapparated, bringing both of them to the Black residence. Quickly, Amaris released him and rushed inside, ready to see her lover once again after all this time. As she burst through the door, she saw no signs of life, and everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. Feeling lost and alone all over again, Amaris rushed through the house, searching every room desperately. "Remus?” she called into the empty home. “Remus?!" her voice was growing frantic, and as she burst into the foyer once again, Dumbledore finally stepped through the front door.

"Miss Black,” he started solemnly, “I'm sorry to inform you, but after you and your brother were apprehended, I haven't heard from Mr. Lupin."

Everything around Amaris came crashing down. She wished she could crawl back into her prison and just give up. She was truly alone now, and she didn’t know how to face a life so full of emptiness. "So . . . He’s just . . . Gone?" Amaris’ voice broke on the last word. Tears welled in her eyes, and quickly fell down her cheeks. In her chest, her heart shattered to pieces. She leaned against the wall for support as her legs threatened to give way beneath her.

"It would seem so."

Amaris shook her head, not willing to believe Remus would just abandon her like that. "He couldn't have just left . . . He wouldn't." Determined to find something that would explain his absence, Amaris went to search the house once again. 

This time, Dumbledore followed her as she stormed into the kitchen. "Now Amaris, I'm sure he had his reasons."

Collapsing into one of the dining chairs, Amaris shook her head wildly, greasy curls flying around. "No. He wouldn't just leave like this." Amaris stared at the table, noticing the small box that rested on it. Shakily, her fingers closed around the box, pulling it closer to her. Fearing she knew exactly what was inside, she flipped the velvet box open. A violent sob ripped free from her chest as Amaris stared blankly down at Hope Lupin’s wedding ring. 

Dumbledore merely watched as Amaris clutched the box to her chest, sobbing. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I understand this is hard for you, but if you're up for it, would you accompany me back to the school? I have a proposition for you to hear." Numbly, Amaris closed the box, tucking it into her pocket and nodded. She allowed Dumbledore to take both of them back to the outskirts of the school, and together, they made their way back to his office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry~


End file.
